Yay I bet each time he goes out,it will get easier.
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How was Hendrix?
He scored
We didn't have streetlights. We went home when it was too dark to see the baseball.We used to just have to come home when the streetlights came on..
Yes - and I don't recall anyone looking for me, checking on me, or feeding me at all from the time I was told to go play outside until it was dark enough to make me go to bed. Times have surely changed.We used to just have to come home when the streetlights came on..
I feel your pain honey! I have a very hard time letting mine go anywhere. I still panic when my 22 year old goes more than an hour without responding to a text.So... home from work and school. For the first time in my boys 10 years, he has gone to play football, with some friends from across the road, on his own, up in the village. First time I've ever let him anywhere on his own. They knocked for him (a mate in his class, who lives opposite, with his 2 older brothers), and asked. I kinda hoped he'd say no. But his face lit up, quick change, lots of whispered words from me (be careful, look when crossing road, be careful, be careful, BE CAREFUL). So I'm now destined to spend the next hour pacing the living room.
No mobile. Am I bad, is that too young? Or am I sad, got to cut those strings sometime?!!!
No, you're a regular Mom. He'll be fine and so will you.So... home from work and school. For the first time in my boys 10 years, he has gone to play football, with some friends from across the road, on his own, up in the village. First time I've ever let him anywhere on his own. They knocked for him (a mate in his class, who lives opposite, with his 2 older brothers), and asked. I kinda hoped he'd say no. But his face lit up, quick change, lots of whispered words from me (be careful, look when crossing road, be careful, be careful, BE CAREFUL). So I'm now destined to spend the next hour pacing the living room.
No mobile. Am I bad, is that too young? Or am I sad, got to cut those strings sometime?!!!
Glad to hear it. Ten years old nowadays seems like 5 five years old when I was a kid. At five, I was coming home from school by myself, doing chores, it was just common place, just about all of my friends and I were "latch key" kids. I lived in a much, much smaller community than my son is growing up in so I know that is one difference but he just doesn't seem as...I don't know...paranoid...as I think he should be. Getting old is a pain in the arse sometimes. Trying to impart knowledge you've obtained over years of experience to a 9 year old is just sometimes friggin' impossible. Do you burst their bubble of innocence? Do you let them know exactly who or what may be out there without coming off as a paranoid, over-protective "drag" of a parent? I sometimes don't like how much time he spends playing video games, but then I think to myself "at least he's here, in the house, where I know he's at least safe from what I know for a fact is lurking out there." I usually check myself when I walk into his room and are about to tell him to go outside and play or just get out from in front of the TV for a while. What if he goes out to the woods behind our house and never comes back? What if someone is out there, waiting, watching for a kid by himself? If that happened, after I smoked the person responsible of course, how the hell could I ever forgive myself? Is it possible to be a good parent and your kid's friend? I was never friends with my dad, but I was sure as hell afraid of him and the lessons he taught me about not trusting people offering rides or anything else stuck like glue in my mind and still do. I don't want to make my kid deathly afraid of me but how do you strike that balance? Is it possible? Guess I'll find out in a few years. He still thinks I'm cool right now, but I figure that will end sometime in the next few years. There doesn't seem to be any instruction manuals for kids no matter how old they get. As they get older, you seem to just trade one set of hurdles for another. Can I be seven years old again please?He's back. Bless his heart. Thanks guys, i'm a numpty...
Exactly right. My parents both worked all day, they usually left around 7am, so especially in the summer, I was literally on my own. I would leave in the morning to play ball or ride bikes, whatever, by myself or with friends, come back home for lunch that I made myself, and sometimes not come home till after dark. It was never considered a big deal. I would go fishing down the river in my town, for hours, literally no one knew where I was. I never gave it a thought at the time. I know my kid's whereabouts at all times from the day he was born pretty much until today...weird, such a difference 35 years makes....Yes - and I don't recall anyone looking for me, checking on me, or feeding me at all from the time I was told to go play outside until it was dark enough to make me go to bed. Times have surely changed.
So I guess it doesn't get any easier as they get older? Dammit.........sweetheart, you have simply joined the ranks of an enormous army of loving parents...and bless yer heart-what a good mum, he's a lucky young'un, even if he doesn't realize that now...and like my brother Ghost-I often questioned if I was doing enough, doing it right etc....and kids will drive you crazy, let you down, lift you high-but in the end, all you can do is love, watch, protect and hope...
Exactly! Be proud of him for actually VENTURING OUTDOORS! lol.Ha, it's a killer isn't it. My boy doesn't have a mobile yet, I figured i'd get him one when he goes to senior school. Perhaps I'll get him one sooner now. Anyhoo, it's getting dark here, he's still not back yet. I know he'll be fine but you can never stop worrying eh....I remember when I used to go to my Dads for the weekend. Me and my twin sister used to go out to play with our friends there, and just come home when we were hungry. That's what kids did then. Out for hours and hours. Now we see them attached to play stations and x-boxes, cocooned indoors.
Normal mum *hugs* Now go have a drink (if you imbibe) and relaxHe's back. Bless his heart. Thanks guys, i'm a numpty...
...you've read my other threads brother, you know it doesn't.....So I guess it doesn't get any easier as they get older? Dammit......
Nope. My oldest is 20, and he still has to call if he's going to be out super late (my house, my rules--as long as he lives here, that's non-negotiable). It's a slight comfort when it gets past midnight (lol), but it's something. I still worry.So I guess it doesn't get any easier as they get older? Dammit......
Is it possible to be a good parent and your kid's friend?
So... home from work and school. For the first time in my boys 10 years, he has gone to play football, with some friends from across the road, on his own, up in the village. First time I've ever let him anywhere on his own. They knocked for him (a mate in his class, who lives opposite, with his 2 older brothers), and asked. I kinda hoped he'd say no. But his face lit up, quick change, lots of whispered words from me (be careful, look when crossing road, be careful, be careful, BE CAREFUL). So I'm now destined to spend the next hour pacing the living room.
No mobile. Am I bad, is that too young? Or am I sad, got to cut those strings sometime?!!!