If we lived in a better neighborhood and my kids were older, I would have no problem with my kids being free range. But we don't have sidewalks on our street and there is a convicted sex offender one street away, so nope.
Post by erinshelley21 on May 18, 2017 7:02:31 GMT -5
I don't see us ever loving in a neighborhood for our kids to be free range. We will probably always live in the country where cars drive 45+ mph making it unsafe to ride bikes and stuff. There will be plenty of space to play on the yard though!
I'm 36, DH is 38, DD is 4. I'd say we're average for parents in DD's classroom. Our siblings are a good bit younger though, and our cousins are even younger than that, so poor DD still has no cousins. Zero other children at holidays STILL. I feel sad about that for her, but nothing I can do about it.
We live right off a busy street, so definitely not for free range. Maybe when she's older, but not before 8 or 9. I am hopeful she can walk to elementary school in 4th/5th grade. It's only a few blocks away.
I was a semi-free range kid in the late 80's / early 90's. Those were good times. I was allowed to walk the three blocks to my elementary school with my sister (2 years older). I would never let my kids walk three blocks anywhere unsupervised nowadays, even though we live in a "safe" area.
Anyone around my age will remember the commercial they played during Saturday morning cartoons about drugs with the frying egg ("This is your brain (egg). This is your brain on drugs (egg is cracked into hot frying pan). Any questions?")
A friend and I were just talking about that commercial last week. They also used to show PSAs like that before the previews at the movie theater. I loved those!
Post by somebabiesmom on May 18, 2017 7:52:23 GMT -5
What do you guys think of this? I tend to push my kids to be independent. Right now I am trying to teach them to play in the backyard by themselves so I can do housework. When DS is 6 or 7, I expect he and DD to walk to and from school together. When DD is 9 and DS is 10, I expect to be able to leave them home for about an hour until DH or I get home from work. At 12 and 13, I'll start leaving them home alone at night when DH and I want to go to dinner. Once they turn 14, they'll pretty much have free reign except for a curfew of 9pm (10 if they have a ride). But dates will be in groups or home with parents until 16.
Seems okay. That's the unofficial guidelines we used for our older boys. However, my kids are not going to be spending two over nights in a row at 16 and 17. Although I say that, but maybe they will go through some major maturity leaps soon. (oldest turns 15 soon)
I am not one to take things personally or internalize when someone behaves a certain way. However, we moved to our new neighborhood 1.5 years ago and I've met some really cool people close to our age with young kids and we've had several large group get togethers. When it comes to more 1 on 1 get togethers those aren't happening. I've initiated a few from time to time. I've also run into two people in our neighborhood who I knew "way back when"--one of them being my childhood best friend (up until 4th grade). With both of these people I have made an effort to try to get together and both seemed excited at the time, but then come up with lame excuses every time when I try to initiate.
My confession is that I sometimes wonder if there is something about me that people don't like and that is why I have a hard time getting together one on one without the other party making some excuse to back out. I have no reason to think that except for how hard it seems to be able to get together individually with people who live near me.
What do you guys think of this? I tend to push my kids to be independent. Right now I am trying to teach them to play in the backyard by themselves so I can do housework. When DS is 6 or 7, I expect he and DD to walk to and from school together. When DD is 9 and DS is 10, I expect to be able to leave them home for about an hour until DH or I get home from work. At 12 and 13, I'll start leaving them home alone at night when DH and I want to go to dinner. Once they turn 14, they'll pretty much have free reign except for a curfew of 9pm (10 if they have a ride). But dates will be in groups or home with parents until 16.
DS will be 8 in July. I don't feel quite ready to leave him alone for a long time, but maybe 10-15 minutes if I have to run to the gas station that's 1/4 mile away. At this point, I'm planning that both kids will be in before and after care at school through elementary school. Once they get to middle school (DS will be 12 going into 6th grade, DD will be 11.5 going into 6th grade), assuming they are both good kids, I will feel ok with them riding the bus home and being alone until DH and I get home from work. Also, we have a German Shepherd who is pretty scary to strangers, so that helps me feel a little more comfortable with them being home alone.
It is kind of funny to think that I was babysitting at 11, and I am feeling that my kids will just be ready to stay home by themselves for 1.5 hours or so at that point.
Anyone from Kansas? How do you feel about the suggested age of 6 for being home alone?
I’m not from Kansas but my DD thinks that she is old enough to be left alone once she turns five this summer. At six, she plans to get her own apartment where she can chew gum, drink pop, and eat chips all day long. I may or may not be allowed to visit. The jury is still out
What do you guys think of this? I tend to push my kids to be independent. Right now I am trying to teach them to play in the backyard by themselves so I can do housework. When DS is 6 or 7, I expect he and DD to walk to and from school together. When DD is 9 and DS is 10, I expect to be able to leave them home for about an hour until DH or I get home from work. At 12 and 13, I'll start leaving them home alone at night when DH and I want to go to dinner. Once they turn 14, they'll pretty much have free reign except for a curfew of 9pm (10 if they have a ride). But dates will be in groups or home with parents until 16.
This sounds about right to me. DD1 is 7.5. I could see leaving her home for 30 min while I ran a quick errand or went for a run or something. When she is in 4th grade (will be 9 at the start and turn 10), I'd like to be able to have the girls ride the bus home from school together. The bus drops off at our house at about 4:15 and I could be home before 5:00 so they would be alone for less than an hour. And they would be required to call me when they get home. I think by about 12 we could leave them home alone for a few hours while we went on a date night. I babysat for other people when I was 12 so I don't think that seems unreasonable. And by 13-14 I think we just won't worry about them being home alone. I probably won't leave them home alone overnight until they're over 18.
I think it totally depends on the kid. I know 13 year olds who should not be left home alone while errands are run in daylight.
DD has been babysitting for date night since she was 12. She also babysat late night for friends at their homes.
Middle is unlikely to do the same, though she may surprise me or she may be comfortable as long as DS is with her, but she probably just won't be there to be alone after dark for long.
kimberlyb, Our DD's could totally live together. DD has been very adamant that she can walk to and from school by herself and stay home alone. She did this big safety camp last year for incoming Kinders and I had the police officers sit down and explain to her why at 5 she can't do this and at what age it is legal to do that. Now when she asks I ask her what Officer X told her and she tells me and then stomps off.
DD won't turn 10 until 5th grade is over so I don't know when she will get to do the walk to and from school deal. I think a lot will have to do with maturity and size. Right now most people think she is 2-3 years older than she when they talk to her but size wise she is petite.
Post by billybumbler on May 18, 2017 11:34:48 GMT -5
somebabiesmom sounds about right, although the walking depends on where you live and how safe it is. The ages you posted are about how old I was when allowed to do those things.
That chart is interesting. My mom used to leave my sister alone for an hour in the morning when my sister was 6, due to her work schedule. We all shake our heads at that now.
My confession is that I'm a sucker for daycare pictures, done by Lifetouch, etc. I know they're not everyone's style since they're so canned and sometimes cheesy, but we've bought every package DD has ever posed for. Last month were spring pictures that just happened to be a week after DS was born. The center let us bring him in to pose with her. The resulting pics were so cute we bought them all (two packages because they did a few individuals of the baby also).
My confession is that I'm a sucker for daycare pictures, done by Lifetouch, etc. I know they're not everyone's style since they're so canned and sometimes cheesy, but we've bought every package DD has ever posed for. Last month were spring pictures that just happened to be a week after DS was born. The center let us bring him in to pose with her. The resulting pics were so cute we bought them all (two packages because they did a few individuals of the baby also).
Yeah, I love the canned cheesy pics too - my confession is that I let my parents foot the bill for the CD with digital rights. But at least I print them some shots for their frames ;-)
But man, canned ain't the word. My BMB compared ours, and the damned things were identical across 5 states with different photographers/companies. Like, down to the fact that all the kids were holding apples (except mine, pretty sure he ate the first one and they had to put the second one somewhere he didn't notice it to get it in the shot). This year was the year of the blue chair... Save
somebabiesmom, I generally think those guidelines make sense. Unfortunately, I'm in IL which has a ridiculous law that you can't leave your kids alone until they are 14. Um, yeah, going to ignore that one.
I don't like to call myself a free range parent, because I find a lot of people use that label as an excuse to be assholes. But I do want to encourage my kids to be independent. One of the big factors in choosing our town is that it's a small, very walkable suburb. Sidewalks everywhere, mostly residential low traffic streets, parks, schools, and library in walking distance of our house. Our kids are still much too young, but I see tons of kids walking and riding their bikes to school and the parks, and notice lots of kids at the playground with no or minimal supervision (parents across the street at the sports fields). We have friends with kids similar age on are street and the next block and live one block from a large park, and I definitely want our kids to be able to go to the park or a friends house on their own. We also live near a small forested area with trails, and I want them to be able to go exploring and get muddy on their own. My biggest concern is that we live right near one of the busier intersections in town. It's a pretty sleepy town, so that's not saying much, but feeling confident that the boys are careful crossing that intersection will probably be the limiting factor for when we start letting them go out on their own.
In the age thing....ds is starting kindergarten this fall and I am the same age my mom was when I graduated high school. she had me at 19 and I had ds1 at 31. I'd say I feel very average aged with both my boys (had them at 31 and 35).
My confession is that I'm a sucker for daycare pictures, done by Lifetouch, etc. I know they're not everyone's style since they're so canned and sometimes cheesy, but we've bought every package DD has ever posed for. Last month were spring pictures that just happened to be a week after DS was born. The center let us bring him in to pose with her. The resulting pics were so cute we bought them all (two packages because they did a few individuals of the baby also).
Yeah, I love the canned cheesy pics too - my confession is that I let my parents foot the bill for the CD with digital rights. But at least I print them some shots for their frames ;-)
But man, canned ain't the word. My BMB compared ours, and the damned things were identical across 5 states with different photographers/companies. Like, down to the fact that all the kids were holding apples (except mine, pretty sure he ate the first one and they had to put the second one somewhere he didn't notice it to get it in the shot). This year was the year of the blue chair... Save
You're right about the backgrounds and props. My friend in another state had her kid's picture day a month before ours and she texted me pics of the flyer so I'd get a head's up about the backgrounds in order to get an outfit. Good thing she did because not only were ours identical, but we only got two days advance notice and I'd have never been able to pull together an outfit.
Post by veronicajones on Aug 19, 2017 6:59:34 GMT -5
okay so coming on to confessions here i have one I had spent two months worrying about and I am now glad to get it off my chest. i gave birth to a beautiful daughter in March 2017 and she somehow resembles a lot to my husband. so every time someone says that she looks like him it kind of breaks my heart and i feel why did i keep her for 9 months. i got so crazy one time that i asked my husband to feed her and not to wake me up. it was so cruel of me.
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