Juli

I read that it's very common for 4yo to lie without
meaning to be dishonest. At that age they don't
separate what's true from what they WANT to be true
very well. So a 4yo who lies about eating the cookies
may wish she hadn't eaten them or even just that she
hadn't been caught.

Reading these posts makes me feel relieved to live in
my little town where my kids are safe playing in the
neighborhood. My 10yo has a paper route, and he knows
enough people on the route that if he gets too cold,
he has a place to warm up, if older kids throw
snowballs at him, he has places to visit until they go
away. He's made great friends with a 94 yo man. Yes, I
could get paranoid about the 94 yo man, but then I
would be depriving ds of a wonderful friendship. I
also let the kids (ds is 8) go without to the library
2 blocks away. Not alone but with each other. Home
alone for up to 1/2 an hour is ok for the 10yo.

I know people who think *I'm* over protective and have
left their kids alone after school since age 8 or 6,
and who let their 5yo ride bikes around the
neighborhood. That seems negligent to me, how about
all of you? Juli

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Nancy from MI

--- In Unschooling-dotcom@y..., Juli <yuliwomie@y...> wrote:
> I know people who think *I'm* over protective and have
> left their kids alone after school since age 8 or 6,
> and who let their 5yo ride bikes around the
> neighborhood. That seems negligent to me, how about
> all of you? Juli

Juli:
I agree with you completely, Juli, at least in my suburb of Detroit!
Plus, my 12-year-old daughter doesn't actually LIKE to stay home
alone, or with her younger sister, for more than an hour at a time ...
and then, certainly NOT at night.

Also, I STILL don't let my almost 9-year-old daughter off of our
block, even if she is with another child. Too protective? Maybe. But I
feel she is not aware of things going on around her enough to let her
trail off on her own just yet. I DO let my 12-year-old ride her bike
to friend's houses a few blocks away and take short bike rides (around
the block) by herself, but she knows to keep her eyes open and is more
aware of her surroundings.

Rough thing, being a mom!

~Nancy

[email protected]

<<I know people who think *I'm* over protective and have
left their kids alone after school since age 8 or 6,
and who let their 5yo ride bikes around the
neighborhood. That seems negligent to me, how about
all of you? Juli>>

Well, "I" couldn't handle that kind of stuff but I know, by watching
other kids in the neighborhood, that some very young children are free to
roam at will. The little girl across the street is only 5, is gone for
hours at a time and her mother is often seen "looking" for her at dusk.
It's bone chilling to me., this neighborhood isn't THAT safe.

Kris
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Tracy Oldfield

Well, "I" couldn't handle that kind of stuff but I
know, by watching
other kids in the neighborhood, that some very young
children are free to
roam at will. The little girl across the street is
only 5, is gone for
hours at a time and her mother is often seen "looking"
for her at dusk. 
It's bone chilling to me., this neighborhood isn't THAT
safe.

Kris

I knew that Mum needed to know where I was when it was
getting dark, so I had to get back around home when the
street-lights came on. Shame we didn't just carry on
in this vein with school (or not, as I would have
preferred) The more I think about it, the more I find
my mum was really good at finding common ground about a
lot of stuff. Now if I could hold on to that and get
rid of the emotional bullying I went through as a
child, I think I'd be doing great!

Tracy