My SIL was over today & we got to talking about how her daughter loves to play outside. My niece will be 5 in September & is allowed to play outside by herself. She is allowed to walk up the street to a friends house or her Grandma's. In fact my SIL said I am lucky if I know where she is at. Then said she is pretty good about letting me know where she is going. Isn't this a little young to be out without supervision or am I just over protective?

By Mommmie on Sunday, May 16, 2004 - 12:06 am:

5 seems to be the age where this starts for a lot of kids. Course, it depends on the street, the neighborhood, the neighbors, who else is outside, if you have a good view from a window, stuff like that.

I think it's good to know where your child is though, no matter the age.

By Bobbie~moderatr on Sunday, May 16, 2004 - 12:14 am:

I agree on the knowing no matter the age.

My girls started going off on there own (or so they thought) at about that age. But I would be sneeking peeks and hiding behind bushes. Or on the phone with the mom who was watching from her end too so she could see from the point I couldn't until they reached her home.

So is what your SIL does bad? We don't know because we don't know where she lives or her child. I would trust my 12 year old before I would trust my 14 year old to do a lot of situations. Love her to death but we have a little family joke, DD has two brain cells functioning at times through out the day and often they aren't speaking... She is the type that you can see in her eyes that the lights are on but no ones home..... She is very smart but her common sense is lacking sometimes. LOL

By Trina~moderator on Sunday, May 16, 2004 - 08:39 am:

Perhaps I'm over protective, but my kids (turning 6 & 8 this summer) are not allowed to roam the neighborhood alone. I'm just starting to let them play in the yard without me! LOL! I agree there are a lot of different factors to consider. In our situation I'm not comfortable letting my kids roam.

By Misty on Sunday, May 16, 2004 - 10:20 am:

My son is 7 and doesnt leave the yard without me. He is allowed to play in the backyard alone, but, we dont really play in the front yard.

We live in a pretty decent neighborhood I think. We have a park about four houses down from us... I just dont trust people.

By Amecmom on Sunday, May 16, 2004 - 10:41 am:

It really does depend on where she lives. If it's one of those old fashioned neighborhoods where everyone knows everyone, then she's probably under constant supervision from neighbors as she walks to her friend's or to Grandma's.
I'm sure when your SIL says she has no idea where her daughter is, she means, she's not sure if she's with Grandma or with one of her friends.
As Bobbie said, it also depends on the child.

For me, this won't be an issue because we live in a rural area, and you really can't just walk down the street (there's no sidewalk and not much of a shoulder).
Ame

By Texannie on Sunday, May 16, 2004 - 10:55 am:

I do live in one of those old fashioned neighborhoods, so my kids started playing outside young too. I did probably supervise my oldest one more (probably cause he was the first! LOL). That's one of the things I love best about this neighborhood is how the kids are all running in and out of each others' houses, playing games in the streets, the bigger kids go up to the school (behind the neighborhood) and play ball. It's pretty amaizng to have in such a huge town.

By Coopaveryben on Sunday, May 16, 2004 - 04:42 pm:

I live on a dead end street and there are only 3 houses past mine. Everyone on our street works all day except the family at the top of the circle, our kids are up and down the street all day (mine is 6 and hers are 5 and 7), they have been doing this for about 2 years. I used to stand out in the yard and watch them walk up and she would be waiting for them in their driveway but now they just tell us they are going and go on their own. We know everyone who lives on this street and if a strange car goes by I hear it and see it and so does she.

By Emily7 on Sunday, May 16, 2004 - 05:07 pm:

She lives in a newer trailer park. It is very close to a busy road. It is around commercial property that is mainly construction type companies.

She makes me feel like I don't know what I am doing when it comes to parenting. So maybe I am looking for a fault where there isn't one.

By Momaroze on Monday, May 17, 2004 - 09:57 pm:

I don't know about that Emily. I think you do know what you are doing when it comes to parenting.

I would not allow my 5 year old to roam around in an area that you described. It really does depend on where you live.

By Trina~moderator on Monday, May 17, 2004 - 10:08 pm:

Emily, I agree with Momaroze. I wouldn't allow a young child to roam in the area you described either!
Actually, your niece is currently only 4.5. Yikes!

By Bobbie~moderatr on Monday, May 17, 2004 - 11:03 pm:

Emily, People have a habit of trying to seem like better parents than the next person. Don't take her opinions to heart. And raise your children the best you can. She will be the one to live with the out come of her parenting or lack there of in due time.

By Debbie on Tuesday, May 18, 2004 - 09:37 am:

I agree that it all depends on the child and where you live. I have just started letting my ds (age 6) play in the front yard without me. We have about 12 dks that live in the few houses around us and they are usually all out playing. We do have set rules. Such as, he can play in the front yard when there is a big group of them out playing. He is only allowed to go down 3 house on either side of us. I also have to know where he is. All of us are stay at home moms and we all watch out for them. Now, when my 3 yr old is out, I am always with him.

I would not let my ds play out front unsupervised in the situation you described. Our house before this one was on a busier street and I never let my ds's play outfront without me.