QUESTION:
First of all, thank for all the previous advice I've been given. It has all been helpful.
This may be a silly question, but I was wondering what is an appropriate age to send my kids outside to play by themselves. We have a fenced in back yard with a garden and moderate sized swingset. It is a medium to large backyard. My little girl is 4 and my little boy just turned 3. I want them to be safe outside, so I wanted some advice for when is it okay for kids to be left generally unsupervised??
Thank you for your thoughts.
ADVICE/ SUGGESTION:
The fact that you asked this question regarding safety makes me believe that you will be a responsible parent when it comes to your children's well-being. That being said, I find a tendency among responsible mothers to be a bit too overprotective and fearful when it comes to our youngsters. Sometimes, we just have to relax, trust God and ask Him to watch over them. Without knowing your neighborhood, and knowing you do have a fenced-in backyard, my advice: LET THEM PLAY! Unstructured outdoor play is of no small importance at this age. Compare the hours they could spend outdoors in all sorts of weather on a swingset, learning how to share and create and take care of each other-----to watching screens indoors, with all the negatives that that entails.
Instilling in them a love of the outdoors is a wonderful thing and should begin at a young age.
Mike Smart, CLPC
"Parenting Outsmarted"
smartmike59@gmail.com
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