How Do I Raise an Independent Dependent?

Tomorrow we celebrate Independence Day. Our freedom from England.

Several years ago I recall helping my young daughter celebrate freedom by allowing her to walk home half a mile from the grocery store alone…for the first time.

She was 13.

Was I a little behind with that? Is 13 years-old too long to be just then be allowing her to walk around alone in a city that has a high crime rate?

I actually walked with her the first time. I showed her all the places she should run along the path, to escape a kidnapper. I showed her which houses might be the safest just by looking at the outside of the home. (I know, you can’t judge a book by its cover, but you can tell a lot about someone by the outside of their house).

I advised her how to defend herself. And not to stick around long enough to use a defense because the best thing is to run away before an attacker can get close.

Then I let her walk home alone, without me. With her phone. She did fine. No one drugged her up and smuggled her to Cambodia to be a sex slave.

So what do you think? Am I too protective? Should I be more of a free-range parent? Am I making her paranoid? Will she go off to college not knowing how to handle her new-found freedom? My niece believes in having free-range kids and her kids are fine. Maybe I can learn something from her.

I was a free-range kid too…but it didn’t go too well for me. Maybe that’s why I’m unnecessarily cautious.
I have 4 kids….not one of them came with a manual. Does anyone have an extra manual they can send me?

Happy Fourth of July! Now I gotta go check on the kids.