Housekeepers

Today was a first.  A first for Noah, who was invited on his own to a friend's house to play.  As we were talking about how to behave as a guest in someone's home, his littlest brothers gave him some advice:

Josiah: "Don't be shy!"
Isaac: "Don't scare everybody!"

These littles pick up pretty much everything that goes on in this house, apparently.

The other first was that I allowed Sam and Caleb to stay behind at the house while I and Noah and the twins dropped him off.  According to the GPS, the drive was to take 34 seconds.  We went over house rules anyway:

- No using any appliances.  I don't know what you'd use the oven for, but if I don't mention it and you think of something, you'll say, "But you didn't tell us we couldn't do it!"  Sam's response to this: "Good point, Mama."
- No Caleb, you cannot answer the door for anyone.
- Stay inside the house.
- Call Daddy if you need to.
- Call the emergency number if you need to.

Most important rule: DO NOT MOVE from those chairs for ANY reason!  Do your schoolwork and have something to show me when I get back!

I was literally gone for about 6 minutes total.

Are you horrified at the thought of a 7 and almost-9-year-old at home alone?  Or do you think I'm over-the-top-protective and don't give my kids enough responsibility?  Keeping in mind that all kids are individual and can handle different responsibilities at different times, how do you handle the doling out of responsibility, namely being home alone?