When we still lived in England (my daughters were 7 and 5 when we left), my girls would play out with our neighbour's daughter, same age as my youngest, and we parents would be out with them. It was a quiet, dead end street, so no fast cars. Had we stayed, I'm sure it would have reached a point where they'd have played out alone, just with us keeping an eye out.
Here in Australia, there were no other children for them to play out with, although as they got older they did occasionally play out with me supervising and as they got older, them keeping an eye out for each other. At 15 my eldest was determined to be more independent and started traveling on her push bike to see friends miles away. She'd check in with her iPod every time she picked up the free Wi-Fi of McDonald's. It was a slow weaning process and I still worry. They are 18 and 16 now.
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This sounds a lot like how we are. They play freely now but in close view with us keeping an eye on them. I don’t think I will ever be comfortable not being able to look out the window or door and see them.
To hear you still worry and they are 16 and 18 confirms my thoughts. We as parents will always have concerns for our kids. That’s really great that she checked in with you. I’m not looking forward for that day when they are going to want to “really” leave from home and travel to friends houses that are out of my peek zone. 😣
Thank you so much for commenting ~