Talking to a woman on the bus today....

[charliecat]

...she was saying that she puts her dd on a bus at her house for her to get off a couple of stops later and then ride to her grans on her scooter. She 6.
She said the worlds no worse than it was when she was running about and it gives her dd confidence.
Couldnt do it myself.
Could you?
She said when do you then?
I said I thought when dd1, whos 8 was heading off to highschool, and that hopefully will be with friends.
Wonder how our kids will turn out, one so carefree and the other paranoid parent !!!

ist dh not first ds

i am so sorry riddo.

Thank you sts. It was 17 years ago and we'd only been married for 5.5 months. I am very lucky to have dh2 who is lovely and very understanding over my paranoia over anything to do with roads and travelling.

i think if anyone is allowed to be paranoid, its you.
hugs.

I used to walk to school on my own from the age of 4. Mum used to see me across one road, and the other had a lollypop lady. by the age of 7/8 I was playing on the top of the mountain, daming streams, falling in etc with my friends and no adults for hours at a time.

I don't do it with mine, for all sorts of reasons, traffic being the most important IMHO. It is sad that my children have so little freedom

Oh Riddo how dreadful for you. And how the hell is it possible to kill a child on a zebra crossing? How can a driver do that?

I might let a junior aged child walk to school alone if they asked but we live in a city and he/she would meet lots of other kids and grown ups on the way.

Would not leave a junior aged child alone in charge of a younger one indoors or outdoors. Looking after yourself at that age is something that can be learned but being responsible for someone else is totally different. Why do we feel so sorry for young carers?

Caligula - it was Riddo's first dh that was killed.

Oops, sorry Riddo, missed your second post.

But actually, how is it possible to kill anyone at a zebra crossing, child or adult? You are supposed to slow down and if you see pedestrians, STOP!

The driver was doing 50mph in a 30 limit and dh didn't make sure the cars had stopped before he started crossing ( I wasn't with him). He didn't die straight away but was in ICU for 2.5 weeks but sedated and on a ventilator the entire time. The driver got fined 200quid for driving without due care and attention (he did try to stop).

I have seen so many drivers go through red lights on pelican crossings and straight across zebra crossings. They just arn't paying attention which is why it's drummed into my kids to "make sure the cars have stopped before you start crossing"