[UgglePuggle]

I find the "EB attracts <insert gross generalisation here> people. I of course am nothing like that, nor are any of my friends" posts quite ironic. Am I the only one?

[BrookeAry]

My brain isn't working very well today so please excuse me if this makes no sense....but I would think the difference between letting your kids walk to the shops on their own and not wearing a seatbelt is that there are positive things to be gained by teaching your child some independence and self reliance. There is nothing positive to be gained by driving around unrestrained. You are putting your child at risk for no reason. Learning to cook (even though its risky with knives, heat etc etc), catching public transport and all those other things are skills. I think most parents weigh up the risk against what their child might gain from it and go with that. As my Dad always says, its not about risk elimination, its about risk management.

[liveworkplay]

liveworkplay, of 2 things I am fairly certain:

1. We are both awsome mums with happy, well adjusted kids
2. We are both about to be crucified by the 2 opposing sides on EB lol

you are probably spot on there. However I also have a 5 yr old and I wouldnt let her do the same as my 7 yr old, so its all relative to age and maturity I think. Yomorrow I am going to suffer through yet another birthday party DD2 has been invited too as I do not know hardly any of her friends parents and she does not want to stay places hereself anyway

[BlondieUK]

There arethree key issues here:
1. Responsibility - have you taken on board the responsibility fo teaching your children how to deal with the road/stairs. trampoline?
2. Risk - have you really thought about the risks involved?
3. Resilience - a really important like skill that children will not develop as effectively if they are not allowed to take some risks.

I agree that there is over parenting and underparenting - the problem is, that sometimes they look like the same thing.

[~Karla~]

Karla, your post makes no sense.

Sorry, it made sense to me after a few wines last night. What I was trying to say was that different kids require different levels of supervision. It's all good and well to say "oh I'm such a cool parent because I let my kids play outside Woolies unsupervised" and to accuse other parents who don't of being "too careful" but the fact is that different kids need different parenting. Even if I wanted to allow my kids to do the things you listed when my kids are that age, there's no way I could with my twins. And I can guarantee that even you would think the same if you had to parent them.

I do try to prevent them running through the bushes, falling down the stairs, I'm just not very good at being in more than one place at the one time. And the thought of someone considering me a free range parent is hilarious and has my husband in stitches.

ETA - my twins have ASD and totally lack that natural self-preservation that most kids have. They know how to walk up and down stairs safely, but they have no inclination to do it. They have both fallen down the stairs more than once, but still have not learnt the lesson I have been trying desperately to teach them about staying safe on the stairs. They have incredibly high pain thresholds and no fear, and it is a bloody scary combination in kids.

This post has been edited by ~Karla~: 09/07/2011, 08:17 PM