Not A Dangerous Mom


This morning was warm, cloudy, and had a cool breeze. Evan hopped on his bike, I loaded Trey into a stroller, and we took off across town to the park with the big train. Or “chooo-chooo” as Trey calls them. He’s a bit obsessed right now. As we made it across town I felt my heart leap into my throat at every intersection, every time Evan got more than a few feet in front of me, every time I saw a car coming and Evan didn’t immediately dive to the side. Yes, I’m one of those kinds of moms.

So this afternoon I watched a short, under 10 minute video that Kim linked to. 5 Dangerous Things You Should Let Your Kids Do. Sheesh!

While I’m jumping every 2 minutes at the thought of Evan being run over I’m forgetting what being a kid means. When I was little I refused to learn to ride my bike. Nope, no way, not going to do it. Then one morning I woke up at the crack of dawn while all the adults were still sound asleep, I went out and jumped on my bike and was gone. For two hours I rode all over town, by myself, without anyone even knowing I was gone. Though i got in trouble for leaving so early without telling anyone once I had shown that I could ride I was free to travel as I wished, I just had to tell them I was taking off first.

Some of the things he talks about kids needing to do in the video really sits with me. Playing with fire for one. I think I would skin myself alive in terror at the idea of Evan playing with fire, yet at his age we had an open faced fireplace that we used daily to heat the front of the house. I spent hours a few inches in front of that thing stirring the wood, tossing in bits of this and that to see what would happen, and playing in the ashes. The idea of letting Evan have a screwdriver makes me tremble. But as his age my uncle had several old TV sets that I frequently took apart and put back together again, often in hopes of building a robot that would do my homework for me.

splashIt reminded me of a book I read last year, Last Child In The Woods. Some of what Louv talked about was kids not being allowed to build treehouses, go fishing, and just enjoy nature. They are stuck in the house with video games to keep them company for fear that they might go outside and get hurt. Broken bones, scratches, dents, dings. All the things kids are supposed to be doing.

Sometimes I forget what it means to be a kid.

Tags: , , ,


Like this post? Subscribe so you don't miss a thing!

Bookmark Me!

Published by: Summer on May 6th, 2008 | Filed under kids, life, parenting



5 Responses to “Not A Dangerous Mom”

  1. Laura Says:
    May 6th, 2008 at 2:41 pm

    I watched that video, too. I was actually pleasantly surprised.

    Maybe its because we are radical unschoolers, but I have always made sure that they were able to do things like that in the right atmosphere. :)

    I hope that it helps open other people’s eyes though!

    Laura’s last blog post..Math Schmath

  2. Sara Says:
    May 6th, 2008 at 9:17 pm

    Its scary…but we can take baby steps :)

  3. The Maven Says:
    May 7th, 2008 at 10:20 pm

    I’ve had to do a lot of letting go as a mom. It’s been described by many that having a child is like tearing your heart out, sticking arms and legs on it and letting it walk free. It’s so hard to let the most important person (or people) in my life take risks, but I know I have to. And sure enough, I got a call last summer that Intrepid had broken his femur. Not worst case scenario, but pretty close. Two surgeries, a week at the hospital and a lot of pain in recovery. But he’s ok, I’m ok and I still (mostly) let him climb (small, sturdy, only mom-approved) trees. It was a learning experience for both of us.

    The Maven’s last blog post..Witness to a Crime

  4. Michelle Says:
    May 10th, 2008 at 1:56 am

    That Last Child in he Woods is a darn good book. It depressed me a little thinking about what could even be more changed in teh future..

    Michelle’s last blog post..And more on bags:

  5. Summer Says:
    May 10th, 2008 at 10:21 am
    It is very depressing, thinking about how much has changed from when I was a kid to now that I have kids. Want to be even more depressed? Read this.

Leave a Comment

« Back to text comment