I almost always travel alone and I have never traveled (by air) with a child before so please excuse what may seem like very ignorant questions....

I am taking my sister and niece to Boston for the weekend and it will be my niece's first time flying. She is quite excited but my sister is a VERY nervous flyer and I want to make the experience as easy as possible for my niece and hope my sister's fears don't transfer over to her....

So... I am trying to prepare my niece what to expect beforehand. Since my niece is 8, I assume that she doesn't have to show ID correct? Do they ask children any questions while they they check adult ID's? She is quite shy so I hope they don't but if they do I would like to know what they will ask so I can tell her beforehand what to expect. When we get to the scanners, how do things go with younger children? Do they make the parent wait a certain distance? If someone could explain very specifically how it is normally done I would be really grateful.

As soon as we get thru security, we will hit the lounge to put some liquid courage in my sister