Friends, family & freedom

[WoodFire]

Advice needed. My 12 year old started secondary school last Sept and has settled in well, does his homework, and has made friends. Weekends when he was at primary school, we used to go out walking, visit National Trust places, visit grandparents, spend time together at home. He also used to play out with friends now and again for a couple of hours or so. However now he wants to spend all weekend with his friends down the park or roaming round town from morning until late afternoon. I have let him a few times on one day over weekends but I worry about what they are up to, and that he should have a balance of some time at home at the weekend as well as seeing friends. Am I being unreasonable, too over protective?

To over protective.
If you’ve brought him up well there’s no need to worry about what he’s getting up to. It’ll just be “boy stuff” - kicking a ball round mostly.
Be glad that he’s out of the house and not on Xbox.

*Too

I think a balance of time at home is fine - if you've planned to see grandparents for example, then he should be there too. Insisting he spends time at home even though you have nothing in particular planned is likely to just make him less keen on spending any time there!

The thing is it happens so quickly. One minute they are year 6 and primary school kids and as such are largely supervised and then the next minute they are starting secondary school and expected to fend more themselves, walk miles to school, etc

Agree with having a balance. He should be doing some things with family and have some time with friends. Does he also need time for homework?

Yes plenty of homework being set