Legal Rule Breaker

With some  responsibility, comes over confidence.

Of course, I know Child #2 is always going to push the boundaries no matter what the rules are. Again the challenge is always going to be to try to keep those boundaries on the right side of the law. What we have going for us right now is that Child #2 does understand right from wrong and that she has compassion for others (most of the time).

So the summer has started out with Child #2 riding her bike with Child #3 up and down our street without supervision. Since we don't have any sidewalks and our street we live on is a narrow, hilly, curvy lake road, I've been fairly overprotective in the past. This summer, I've given them a little slack where they can ride their bikes. They can ride down to the park without me (as long as at least two of them stay together at all times) and I've allowed them to ride up the street to a friend's house about ten houses away from ours.

Naturally this distance wasn't going to be enough for Child #2. After a few rides to the friend's house, she came home to tell me that her and Child #3 made it all the way to the speed hump zone on our road (this is approximately a half mile away from our house). I didn't want to squash her enthusiasm or her confidence to make a decision on her own so I kept my opinions to myself.

I mentioned that I also have let them go down to the park by themselves as long as they stayed together. The park is actually closer than the friend's house, but there is more traffic and more people around (made me a little more nervous). They would go down to swing on the swings and play on the playground. The main rules were not to talk to strangers and no swimming at the beach. After a few successful bike rides down to the park, I thought this was great. I have to admit I loved their new found independence. It gave me some extra time to catch up on housework.

To Child #2's credit, she stuck to the rules. But...I know you were waiting for it...Child #2 decided that she would take her new found freedom to the next level. To Child #2 and Child #3's credit, they were able to keep a secret for a few weeks. Long story, short, Child #2 and Child #3 were buying soda from the vending machine down at the park. The crazy part is that Child #3 doesn't even like soda, but apparently she likes Mountain Dew.

I completely forgot about the vending machine so now the rules have extended to no buying soda down at the park. Note to self: Don't forget to enforce the no soda rule.