The Overprotected Kid

[ceyko]

I do a lot of the "cool" (camping, fires, gun training, fishing, boating...etc) stuff with my kids, some of it may be a little over their age but they don't know the difference and have fun while I'm stressed the f out. However, I find it important they learn the right ways through me and hopefully are leaders instead of followers of young morons at a later age.

I grew up mostly in WV, being surrounded by woods and remember leaving at first day light with friends exploring, caving and running from land owner's dogs...etc until sun down. It felt like 2 hours passed. No water, no food (we did not want to go back for lunch) and eating my weight in food after my Mom forced me to get a shower/bath.

I'm trying to emulate that for my kids by moving out further and giving that freedom. However, some of the freedoms I had as a kid will get CPS called on you these days. Plus, those freedoms came with some level of discipline and the small voice reminding you some things are too dumb to do. That came from .... rougher punishment which also can get CPS at your door these days. Also land owners don't want the liabilities of sue happy people these days...the list goes on and on about how things have changed - at least from my perspective.

The bad part to our area - it is basically infested with copperheads - all you can do is train, train and train them some more to look around. Damned things are silent and cammo'ed so damned well though.

[ceyko]

I just hate lazy parents using an excuse like "I let my kid just do whatever because I want him/her to experience childhood without being sheltered or overprotected."

I hear ya and I think there is a clear difference between those that just want them out of the house and those that allow them out with friends to romper-room in the local woods/etc with friends. Meanwhile the parents are home worried and hoping they are doing what taught while out there playing around. That is also good experience and step 1 to allowing them out of the house when 16 for friend/work time.

I sort of look at it as gambling and the only way to hedge your bets is to try and teach them a lot before they start doing those things. That and strict discipline when they violate rules...etc...etc.

Every parent has their own methods and I try to understand the various ones out there. There is lazy and then there is just different from one parent to another - usually the difference is clear and fully visible in the kid's behavior.

[Frank]

I tried to put a "jet" engine on my bicycle a few times. Mostly it was a piece of pipe clamped to the side of the frame by the rear wheel and I found some fan motor that would run on D cells duct taped to the seat post. I would use ligher fluid, paper, whatever and light it up and then pedal like crazy to keep from the flames catching my butt on fire. I was pretty popular in the neighborhood for stuff like that.
I played with fire quite a bit outside and would stage car crashes and GI Joe battles and take Polaroids. How I never burned myself or catch anything on fire was a miracle. I did have sense enough to have a water hose of sand nearby and was careful to keep anything away that might ignite.

[564826]

Man you guys just took me back to the "back woods" of Texas. We would go to the pond but for us it was a lake. Fish, catch frogs, fire flies, snakes and I will neither confirm nor deny that we might have skined them. We would make forts out of mud, logs and whatever else we could find. We would tie fishing string between tree to protect our "lake" from only god know who? Good times! I swear I could write a book. Thanks for taking me back.

[LANTIRN]

Fuck that nonsense! I did a ton of stupid shit with others doing stupid shit. A lot of us got messed up pretty bad. I had two friends parylized and one die with dirt bikes. One kid was killed by a rattle snake. Three different times I witnessed broken bones on monkey bars (heard of others). One girl was poisoned by eating Comet just a couple houses down from me. I personally knew two kids that came up missing.

My aunt was a nurse in the ER ever since I could remember. She says that kids are much safer these days, but they still roll in steady.

Call me overprotective; I don't care. I get pissed off all the time when I see unsupervised children. People are dumb and lazy parents. Many don't deserve children. Kids are kids and it is part of growing up to test and explore limitations. It's our job to show them those limitations before they are reached.

You can give a child a full childhood with great experiences without being a dousche bag parent that has a child's serious injury or death on their hands.

So, if you don't want your children to live a "sheltered" life, then get off your asses and explore their curiosities with them!

Go kill a small animal
Go blow something up
Go start a fire
Shoot some shit
Camp!
Climb some big ass trees
Go jump dirt mounds
Throw shit off buildings

Have the kids take some controlled risks and supervise/protect/educate them as you go. Have fun with them and both of you will learn so much.

That controlled play area is a pretty cool idea. I just hate lazy parents using an excuse like "I let my kid just do whatever because I want him/her to experience childhood without being sheltered or overprotected."

I could not agree more. We were usually supervised pretty close growing up, and while I never had any friends die or get paralyzed we had our shares of stitches and broken bones and wrecked atvs. My son is 2, and I plan on introducing all the fun stuff to him and having advenures together. I can't wait until he is old enough to go fishing or shoot .22s or go camping for the weekend. Sure he will gradually be granted more freedom and ti.e on his own, but I am not letting an 8 year old play in the lake or woods unsupervised. Hopefully I will soon be able to afford a house and land in the country where he has a little room to explore and play but still have us close by to oversee him without always standing right over his shoulder.

[95DRGT]

Does 'war' with pellet guns in the woods count? Least we wore heavy coats and our dads shop safety googles. I remember taking one to shoulder and knocking me out of a tree- kid had a Benjamin.

[Moose242]

I remember one of my favorite things to do is going in the woods looking for frogs and snakes, to test out my homemade poisons On

You are seriously fucking creepy.

[Probie]

My dad was dumb enough to tell me about stuff he did when he was younger which of course made me wanna try it haha.

[racrguy]

My dad was dumb enough to tell me about stuff he did when he was younger which of course made me wanna try it haha.

Speaking of overprotected kids!

[crapstang]

There is a difference between neglecting a kid, and raising them with proper instruction. All of the essential manners, rules, etc I was taught well, and if I ever veered away from them I found myself in a shitsticky. When you find out that the big ideas you are taught in the house are applicable in real life, you learn to respect them. There has to be discipline and freedom in order to learn. Hiding a kid away is definitely not the answer. Saying "go into the world and get out of my hair" is not either. Sometimes that balance is very hard to find, and it all depends on the amount respect that they are taught to give at young ages. I thank my parents for the way they raised me!

[propellerhead]

I challenge you to find a kid that doesn't do their share of creek stomping and the equivalent of melting their little plastic army men like we all did.

My brother in law has four kids. Only the oldest (23 yrs old) knows how to ride a bike. The rest are too scared to try because they grew up sheltered.

It's quite common in the bigger cities where being outside can easily turn into an abduction or catching a stray bullet.

[BLAKE]

My brother in law has four kids. Only the oldest (23 yrs old) knows how to ride a bike. The rest are too scared to try because they grew up sheltered.

It's quite common in the bigger cities where being outside can easily turn into an abduction or catching a stray bullet.

Those are common concerns for urbanites dating way back. It's your brother in law's responsibility to throw them into the natural world so they can be in touch with their roots. Anybody that has kids is familiar with cave babies: infants are happier with grass under their feet and sun on their face.

[soap]

You are seriously fucking creepy.

after all this time now you're going to turn on me too? I've never said anything negative to OR about you, oh well.

[Moose242]

after all this time now you're going to turn on me too? I've never said anything negative to OR about you, oh well.

Not trying to put you down or insult you, but that was pretty damn creepy.

[talisman]

after all this time now you're going to turn on me too? I've never said anything negative to OR about you, oh well.

You're not very good at playing the victim.