On playing in the street, and other old-school activities

[kouredios]

So, one of the reasons we moved, and one of the reasons we love this house and its neighborhood, is that Cassie has gone from having no playmates on the street, to having several. There's a family of three kids right across the street from us, another kid from her class next door to him, and a passel of kids here and there that all play together.

Comments

[ltlbird]

Ooh, hope it's not mono! But at least if it is, you can get on the road to recovery.

I think it's safe enough. I even think it's healthy, but it's hard to battle the culture of helicopter parenting which can infiltrate even subconsciously. Cassie seems like an open and assertive enough kid that she'd tell you about anything questionable and leave if anything untoward happened. Sounds like you've laid the groundwork for this level of independence. Hopefully it will get less worrisome as time goes on.

Can I also say that it is refreshing to hear that such neighborhoods still exist?

[kouredios]

The doc's office just called me, and the mono test came back negative, so yay for that? I've got a chain of three swollen & tender glands and no other symptoms (other than an occasional 99-ish fever), so we're baffled.

And yes, you're totally right, and these are all things I've told myself as well. I think it's because she just turned seven, and I'm just feeling like she's old enough to do this, and it's really the first time she's doing this, you know? Transition, for me. She, on the other hand, is super happy. Which is a good sign that everything's fine, of course. :D

[kcobweb]

Elena is allowed to go to our neighbor's house as long as she tells me first (and then the dad usually calls me) - but I know him a bit. She knows where she can go, and where is too far - I walked around the perimeter of the acceptable area with her - and that has worked for us. (There aren't a lot of other kids on our block to play with, so there are slightly limited options, too.)

[kouredios]

I think part of my worry is that I don't really know all of these kids yet. Most of them are at her bus stop, and I've gotten good impressions of most of them, but not all. Also there were two middle-school age boys hanging around yesterday who were a cause of some of the social tension yesterday, (basically calling Cassie a "baby" for, well, it must be noted, a bit of babyish behavior) but they weren't around today. After hosting them here (including letting her friend from class come in to play Wii for a bit) and chatting with them a bit, I feel better about it. :)