At which age?

[appleofhiseye]

How old were your children when you let them play with their friends w/o your direct supervision?

When did you let them outside on your own property alone?

When were they allowed to cross the road to a neighbor's house to play?

I just want to know if I am being too lenient or too strict in my parenting.

Currently my 5 y/o can go next door across the driveway/lane to play but not across the road at all.

 

[megg]

My son was 7 before I let him outside alone to plat with friends,( in the culdesac where I could see him, of course)

He is nine now and still not aloud to cross the street we live on, but it is a dangerous intersection and none of his friends live close enough to walk to anymore anyway.

 

[Linnis]

He turned 8 this summer and this is the first year he's allowed out alone, in his own yard. He has to stay where we can hear him call or him hear one of us call. When he stays with me, he's not allowed out alone because it's not safe.

 

[illudium_phosdex]

My kids are 4 and 5. I started letting them play outside alone when they were 2 and 3. I must clarify, however, that at the time I lived in a house with a fenced in backyard just off the kitchen. They were allowed outside by themselves as long as I was in the kitchen. Because of the fact that I could see them through both the window and the door and I was only 3 steps from being with them. You may not consider that alone. I only started letting them play outside with out me being able to see each and every move they make in the last year. But I still run to the door and check on them every 10 to 15 mins.

Right now, mine are still not allowed to leave our property but if they had a friend who lived right next door and I could still kind see or hear them from the door to be sure they are ok, I'd probably be ok with it. As for crossing the road, they are not allowed to do that under any circumstances and I'm not real sure when they will be able to. I was allowed to cross the road as a child at 6 and started walking home from school at 7. Things were different then and I really don't think either of my kids is as mature as I was at at that age. I guess we will see.

 

[appleofhiseye]

cool, thanks all

 

[HeKnowsMyName]

DD is 6 and she's only allowed to play under our carport or right outside of it. I suppose I'm paranoid, but so much can happen these days.

 

[Entertaining_Angels]

This hugely depends upon where you live. Our last house and current house have been in rural areas and both my 8 and 3 year old play outside without me watching. I peek out occasionally but I don't need to worry. We also have relatives on the property next to us and my son is allowed to walk over without me since he pretty much just walks our property to their property and crosses over. I'll walk my three year old over there.

Now when we lived in the 'burbs there was just no way my son was playing outside alone even in our fenced back yard. It really does boil down to geography in many cases.

 

[MezzaMorta]

My parents pretty much kicked us out of the house by the time we were 7 and told us not to come back in till supper time.

We would usually either go up in the hills and so stuff up there or go down to the docks and throw stuff at fish.

 

[onlinealice]

My daughter is almost 9 and I just started letting her in the front yard alone last year. My son is 14 and this summer was the first year I let him go to an over night camp! I am very over protective. My daughter is still not allowed to cross our street alone beacuse it is very busy. And she cannot leave the yard....like ever.

 

[CarrieAg93]

We live on a dead-end rural road with only 6 houses. We're on 2 acres and our house is a little ways back fron the road. My kids are 6 and 4 and I've pretty much allowed them outside by themselves since we've been here (a little over a year). They do a really good job at staying on our property. They are allowed to go across the road if the boy that lives there is outside. He's 10, but I tend to keep a closer eye on them when they're playing with him than by themselves.

 

[MezzaMorta]

My son is 14 and this summer was the first year I let him go to an over night camp! I am very over protective.

Yea that is VERY overprotective. By the time we were 15 my parents didn’t really care what we did. If we weren’t going to come home at night they just told us to call before they went to bed so they knew and if we came home drunk and woke them up we would get a right beating.

 

[JulySheMustFly]

How old were your children when you let them play with their friends w/o your direct supervision? - In the house with one friend at 3. Our house is't very big and has an open floor plan.

When did you let them outside on your own property alone? - Backyard 3 and 1-1/2. I know it sounds young but our back yard is only the size of our first floor and fenced in. At our previous house they were not allowed outside without adult supervision. It was over an acre and not fenced. My 4-1/2 yo is allowed to play out front alone if I am in the kitchen and can check on where she is but that is rare.

When were they allowed to cross the road to a neighbor's house to play? - None of them are allowed to cross the street alone (all under 5 yo) and when I do walk my oldest accross I stay outside and read a book or garden so I am there when she needs. We've had some incidents with neighbor children that I don't like.

 

[JaneFW]

How old were your children when you let them play with their friends w/o your direct supervision?

When did you let them outside on your own property alone?

When were they allowed to cross the road to a neighbor's house to play?

I just want to know if I am being too lenient or too strict in my parenting.

Currently my 5 y/o can go next door across the driveway/lane to play but not across the road at all.

I think that's wise. I wouldn't let my 6yo cross the road without my supervision. He's pretty sensible, but when he's excited about something, he doesn't stop to think, so I don't want him near the road without supervision .. yet.

My middle son is 10, and since he was 8 he has been able to go to friends houses to play and had his first sleepover at that age. We made sure we knew the parents in advance!

I do allow the 6yo to play upstairs with his friend/s of the same age, but I check up on them periodically.

As for letting them outside the property alone - I let the 6yo outside in the back yard where it is all fenced in. But I'm in the kitchen when he is outside. He doesn't go outside at the front where there is a road, albeit a quiet road (we are in a cul-de-sac not a through road) unless he is with me or his dad.

Our two other boys, 10 and 14, we allow to ride their bikes without supervision around our division, but the little one has to have me or dad.

 

[GolfingMom]

My kids are 4 and 5. I started letting them play outside alone when they were 2 and 3. I must clarify, however, that at the time I lived in a house with a fenced in backyard just off the kitchen. They were allowed outside by themselves as long as I was in the kitchen. Because of the fact that I could see them through both the window and the door and I was only 3 steps from being with them. You may not consider that alone. I only started letting them play outside with out me being able to see each and every move they make in the last year. But I still run to the door and check on them every 10 to 15 mins.

Right now, mine are still not allowed to leave our property but if they had a friend who lived right next door and I could still kind see or hear them from the door to be sure they are ok, I'd probably be ok with it. As for crossing the road, they are not allowed to do that under any circumstances and I'm not real sure when they will be able to. I was allowed to cross the road as a child at 6 and started walking home from school at 7. Things were different then and I really don't think either of my kids is as mature as I was at at that age. I guess we will see.

Yep!

 

[Zoomer]

How old were your children when you let them play with their friends w/o your direct supervision? I started letting them this year, they are 4 and 5.

When did you let them outside on your own property alone? At 4 and 5 years old

When were they allowed to cross the road to a neighbor's house to play? They aren't allowed to cross the street without me.