[la di dah]

I enlisted. My parents, old hippies, were NOT pleased or impressed. My extended family ranged from bemused to shriekingly horrified. I wanted to be a Seabee, which is one of the more dangerous jobs they were letting women do.

I think my being a girl was part of their concern but honestly in my family I think they would have been pretty much the same for a boy.

I was peeved at all the people advising me on how to get safe jobs (I think they thought they were helping) or assuming I wanted that, and I was hoping to go to Iraq or Afghanistan.

I didn't make it that far, I washed out with injury and years later I am still dealing with physical effects to say nothing of the huge slam to my hopes/dreams because I had planned the military thing since I was a kid.

Even getting out didn't mend all the things I remember my aunts/uncles/parents/assorted folks saying to me about it and the very few who were supportive (old men, oddly - the WWII generation is the ONLY generation that came through for me, even the kids my age in my family were blah blah blah why would a woman...) are the ones I had the easiest time relating to afterward.

I don't think not supporting the kid accomplishes much. It can leave a ghost that outlasts the dream.

[Magenta Ambrosia]

Would you let your children learn to drive when they're old enough? That is the most dangerous ambition, most other you can take precautions, but there is no protection against another drivers stupidity or lack of focus.
Death happen,s life is the bit where all the fun stuff is

[idignantlyright]

Well my 7yr old DD was showing her 12yr old sister how to make a slingshot out of a 6pack of poppers, a rubber band and 2 pencils. She was slingshooting nutri grain around the kitchen.

So she may be in for a future in weapons.

[reng]

Before horses, I worked in road maintenance - and I reckon all young people should do a stint on a road crew before learning to drive.

It's funny the perception about what is safe and what is not. There are so many road deaths every year, that I think it would be hard to find anyone who doesn't know someone affected by a road death. And yet we all pile in our cars on a daily basis thinking it to be safe. It's much safer than flying, yet people are more likely to have a fear of flying.

The Cup: I did have the winner in my trifecta, just not the other two, so not the greatest day on the punt. We did well on Cox Plate day though and are still in front over the carnival so far. Not winning the Cup from a work point of view is a challenge for our marketing team (consisting of 3 of us!), and at least we have the mighty Black Caviar to get buyers coming to Australia to spend their luxury money on our local product.

[Dinosaurus]

Ultimately it's about hoping your kids will be happy (alive, safe - yes, buy happy). There are so many risky things on the road to adulthood you can't shelter them from life and expect them to be happy. We both have strong sporting backgrounds and hope our kids will enjoy sport the same way we do - lots of sport is dangerous but statistically I'm much more worried about sex, drugs, alcohol and driving. If they can get through puberty relatively unscathed I hope whatever risky job or hobby they choose is still safer than dealing with the peer pressure to do really risky things to impress largely unimpressable people.

You can't stop them - hopefully you can support them.