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Younger dd aged 8 has never liked us going out together in the evening - and we haven''t tackled it very well, I realise in retrospect ie we have been swayed a lot by her anxieties and not been out as much as we should. For a long time we used a family member but dd never made a good relationship with this person and they are now quite frail, and have no confidence about dealing with dd when she gets into a state.So we recently started using a lovely person, who child minds for some of dd''s friends ie she has been cared for by her many times on play dates. However the first two attempts didn''t go so well in that dd just couldn''t settle to sleep.Last night we tried again - dd became tearful as we were leaving so I was resigned to another unsettled evening for her. But no - dd had taken herself off to bed at the agreed time and had sent the babysitter away downstairs saying she could manage! YEY!This morning she was really pleased with herself and even her older sister (who can be v. spiteful towards her) commented on how well she had done - so I am proud of both of them (and relieved we may not have to worry so much when we go out in future!)