Playing outside (poll)

Boots and Bananas · Guru

RE: Playing outside (poll)

Alison · Guru

First of all, LLLLL - shut up on that ticker! CONGRATULATIONS!!!!

OK, onto the original topic - I don't let the kids play outside alone. Our back patio backs up to a golf course, and the house gets pelted with golf balls all the time. So when we do let the kids play out back, we make them wear their bike helmets, LOL. Those balls come down HARD.

We don't have much of a front yard, and we live on a pretty busy street that's a steep hill, so it's just not a very child-friendly yard. I do let them play out front but only when I'm with them.

Supafly · Guru

I also have the fear of kidnapping or something else unsavory happening to them. My neighborhood is unsavory, tbh, and being a townhouse community, there are always people around you don't know very well or at all. I see some of the kids wandering around with no supervision, but as long as we live here, my kids won't be outside alone.

I do the same thing as others though-I let them open the door and wait on the front step for me if we are leaving, but even that makes me nervous!!!! If the girls are playing with Mandy's girls out front though, we will go in for a few to grab something or whatever-because we both are always out there with them.

It was nice to have the freedom as a kid to wander and just be home by a certain time. But it is a different world out there now. Aside from crazy people, I know where my parents live is a LOT busier than it used to be, and people come flying down the road there-and it is not a main road at all. My kids are good, but they are still kids, and they don't realize people can't always see them or aren't watching for them. My mom was telling me just the other day about a grandmother walking in a parking lot with her grandchild, and even though they were walking close together, a car backed out and hit the child because they couldn't see him. It doesn't take long for something to happen.

That is why I am grateful for my ILs farm. It is the one place we can really let the kids run free. I can't think of a single gated community around here-they just aren't common in this area. And there are neighborhoods with cul de sacs and such, and I know people whose kids are allowed out in those areas, but it is a pretty busy area. Most people end up taking their kids to parks to have open space to run and play and ride bikes.

Corey · Guru

i absolutely let them play in our fenced backyard alone. i worry more about them arguing with eachother, etc, to be honest, than i do that someone is going to snatch them. i do let them play in our front yard alone as well, to ride bikes, etc in the drive way, but i always have the window or screen door open to listen for them. even in the front yard i worry more that the ups guy will have a package and run them over than i do that they will be kidnapped. for that reason they need to put our kids at play sign at the end of the driveway to play out front.

Jennie · Guru

I live out in the country squashed between cow pastures..He can go outside on his own. Addy can't b/c she's too young to know safety rules and understand things like cars and streets, etc.

He can go outside unsupervised provided he can be seen from any window of the house. There are two other kids here his age and he will go up and play with them. One parent is usually out and he tells them that I will follow shortly, though they never mind watching him. He never gets into any trouble- he just digs and builds silly little contraptions. :)

Cuppycake · Guru

I said sometimes.

This is (very) recent for us. We live on a private drive, but people fly through here, so it scares me. There are some kids, but they are all older than Hannah, and their parents never keep an eye on them, so I don't like her playing with them and am dreading the day she asks to do so. Anyways, she goes out on the front walk and colors on the sidewalk. I keep the front door open. I wish we were fully gated in the back, but we aren't. I can't calm my paranoia enough for her really to do it often, but I wish I could. I just find myself pacing when she goes to the neighbors. I'm trying to get better.

daisy · Guru

i might have let them play on the swingset alone this year, but there's a recent coyote problem in my area so i'm still out there with them (with my whistle and airhorn -lol).

eta: sometimes i might run in to get the phone, get a snack, magazine, get the mail, etc - but never longer than a minute or two.

-- Edited by daisy on Monday 8th of August 2011 12:37:07 PM

Michele · Senior Member

CoffeeQueen wrote:
The girls can play in our backyard alone. Most times we are out there, but I have no problem with them playing out there. It is completely fenced in and locked from the inside so know one can open. They do not play out front at all. We do not have kids on our block though. I wish we did.

I could have written this exact same paragraph. My girls play out back together a lot alone but never in the front. Hopefully our next neighborhood will have kids and be safer (less traffic).

beckhamgirls · Senior Member

I also have major kidnapping paranoia, I always have, even when I was a kid. I will never forget watching the TV movie "Adam." Does anyone else remember that? It was about Adam Walsh's kidnapping - I have no idea why my parents let me watch that, but anyway...I was never scared in my neighborhood - just at stores, sporting events, etc.

A couple of weeks ago I watched and Elizabeth Smart interview - that shit freaks.me.out.

gogona · Guru

Christopher plays unsupervised in our front and back yard but I stick my head out every 10-15 minutes to make sure he is ok. Often times me or my mom are out there with him.

We have a very safe, private neighborhood with no through traffic. Christopher never, ever leaves our driveway and I trust that he would not wonder off, he never has, even when we are out there with him.

And security wise, the neighborhood is very safe, we have not had any burglaries, break-ins or anything like that since we've been here. Once I was away for three days and the box from Pottery Barn sat on my front doorstep for two days and nobody touched it.

If we lived somewhere else where I was not sure of the neighborhood or near a busy street, I would definitely not be that lax. I am also pretty paranoid about kidnapping and stuff like that.

Sara · Guru

Mine are allowed to play outside unsupervised but we always check on them every few minutes

Alyssa · Guru

Big kids can play in our yard. It's fenced and we can see them through the glass door. Sometimes we'll let them play beyond our yard but only because the area is pretty much enclosed by other buildings. And sometimes they go on the steps/front alone if I'm going to be right out--I can see them from the kitchen window. Our street is pretty quiet though. We are at the back of our complex.

Lizzy · Guru

daisy wrote:
i might have let them play on the swingset alone this year, but there's a recent coyote problem in my area so i'm still out there with them (with my whistle and airhorn -lol).
eta: sometimes i might run in to get the phone, get a snack, magazine, get the mail, etc - but never longer than a minute or two.

-- Edited by daisy on Monday 8th of August 2011 12:37:07 PM

LOL Kelly!! are you serious though? that is crazy!

Lizzy · Guru

beckhamgirls wrote:
I also have major kidnapping paranoia, I always have, even when I was a kid. I will never forget watching the TV movie "Adam." Does anyone else remember that? It was about Adam Walsh's kidnapping - I have no idea why my parents let me watch that, but anyway...I was never scared in my neighborhood - just at stores, sporting events, etc.
A couple of weeks ago I watched and Elizabeth Smart interview - that shit freaks.me.out.

yep...i totally remember the movie - and i read John Walsh's book on it. that is such a tragic story. I can't even imagine. (I also cannot go into a store without thinking of how it happened, ie. his mom let him go and play video games by himself). I always keep ivy with me in the store for that reason.

I do fear kidnapping definitely.

daisy · Guru

Lizzy wrote:
beckhamgirls wrote:
I also have major kidnapping paranoia, I always have, even when I was a kid. I will never forget watching the TV movie "Adam." Does anyone else remember that? It was about Adam Walsh's kidnapping - I have no idea why my parents let me watch that, but anyway...I was never scared in my neighborhood - just at stores, sporting events, etc.
A couple of weeks ago I watched and Elizabeth Smart interview - that shit freaks.me.out.
yep...i totally remember the movie - and i read John Walsh's book on it. that is such a tragic story. I can't even imagine. (I also cannot go into a store without thinking of how it happened, ie. his mom let him go and play video games by himself). I always keep ivy with me in the store for that reason.
I do fear kidnapping definitely.

i remember that movie too and should have NEVER watched it - it screwed me up for life also. the elizabeth smart story freaks me out too, bigtime. there was also a HORRIFIC story recently from brooklyn - not sure if you guys heard about it nationally - but it makes my hair stand on end.

(and yes liz, with the airhorn and whistle - LOL. but i saw a coyote in my DRIVEWAY at the beginning of the summer, so i'm still a wreck!)