Independent Dependant

Today we celebrate Independence Day. Our freedom from England.

Last week I helped my 13-year old celebrate freedom by allowing her to walk home half a mile from the grocery store alone...for the first time.

Am I a little behind with that? Is 13 years old too long to be just now be allowing her to walk around alone in a city that has a high crime rate?

I actually walked with her the first time. I showed her all the places she should run along the path, to escape a kidnapper. I showed her which houses might be the safest just by looking at the outside of the home. (I know, you can't judge a book by it's cover, but you can tell a lot about someone by the outside of their house).

I advised her how to defend herself. And not to stick around long enough to use a defense because the best thing is to run away before an attacker can get close.

Then I let her walk home alone, without me. With her phone. She did fine. No one drugged her up and smuggled her to Cambodia to be a sex slave. At least not this week.

So what do you think? Am I too protective? Should I be more of a free-range parent? Am I making her paranoid? Will she go off to college not knowing how to handle her new-found freedom? My niece believes in having free-range kids and her kids are fine. Maybe I can learn something from her.

But I was a free range kid too...but it didn't go too well for me. Maybe that's why I'm unnecessarily cautious.

I have 4 kids....not one of them came with a manual. Does anyone have an extra manual they can send me?

Happy Fourth of July! Now I gotta go check on the kids.