My comment on Abraham's post was about the other night when the kids and I went for a walk over Birch Lake around 7:00 at night. It was dark, windy and cold. I told the kids that we were going for a walk. They weren't pleased, but when we got to the lake they were very excited. I went out first until I knew it was safe. They waited on the bank until I called them. It was so great to be out doing something that seemed dangerous and out of the ordinary. Just being out when everyone else was tucked warm in their houses was great.
I'm making a list of other things that I want to let the kids do sooner than later. Add anything else in the comments. And if you are on Amazon any time soon and are looking to get me something, I'd love this book.
- Build a fire in the backyard
- Have a pocket knife
- Drive the car on my lap
- Put their tongue on a 9v battery
- Drive the car out on the ice
- Go for another walk across the ice
8 comments:
Everything is great EXCEPT "drive the car out on the ice"...CRAZY!! I'll have to give this some more thought. As you know, I'm a bit of a wimp about such things. Your dad would let you get close to the edge of the pier where the water was deep:(
That's why God gave us mommies and daddies.
I'm with Sharon. I'll be happy to do anything except drive on the ice. Not because it's dangerous necessarily, but because I don't want to lose my car.
I like all of yours.
When they can navigate their bikes, let the boys ride their bikes to the park or to the store. Alone.
Let them climb up on the roof.
Let them camp out in the backyard after that fire.
D.
P.S. I guess I was OK, then, letting the boys drive up in Mich, "cuz it's no problem for the Rhino", eh Matt?
i'm enjoying this topic. tony & i often reminisce about the days when we were gone from the house on our bikes for hours upon hours and no 'check in'
this day and age is a bit different. you have to worry about weirdos and knife wielding men at every corner. well, i do at least. so if the trade off is to let them lick a battery in the safety of our presence, i say...game on.
i think this is a greater issue for young boys. ever watch AFV? it's not the females who are trying to bobsled down their front steps....
I've thought about it some more. I remember Don letting all of you kids drive the car on his lap in the country. You loved it and he also had a "pocket knife". I am of the opinion that a jack knife is a bit of a rite of passage for a boy. Sure they can hurt themselves, but I don't ever remember hearing about that happening to anyone. Alex has also talked about driving a four wheeler around his parents' property, unsupervised for hours at a time and yes, there was some scraped elbows, knees, etc. but he and Mike thrived with all of that independence. I grew up in the "city" so some of these things weren't part of my childhood...no place to ride a four wheeler, etc. My kids rode all over our neighborhood in both Waterford and Alpena without an adult, but they usually had a sibling with them...I say usually. That was before the registered sexual offenders etc etc etc. I guess it's like lots of things-finding a balance.
It's amazing how powerful that icy grip of fear is. I can't imagine letting my kids do some of these things, yet I remember doing a lot of them when I was a kid.
Jim
Great thread. Brad and I used to ride all over town on our bikes - to candy stores, to rent Nintendo games, or just cruising. I think I've even comment here before about the fact that we never wore helmets back then...
Related: There was quite a debate about this kind of stuff a year or two ago when a Mom in NYC wrote a book called "Free Range Kids" about how she'd let her 9-yr old boy roam Manhattan on the subway.
freerangekids.wordpress.com/
Very interesting topic.
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