Thursday, April 13, 2006

Come Out and Play

We suddenly live in a neighborhood where kids come to the door and ask if Kate and Zack can come out and play. I am so pleased with this! It seemed like people didn't let their kids outside anymore and I'm glad that they do still knock at the doors of their friends.

But it's also driving me out of my mind!

Naturally, now that kids are coming to our door, Kate and Zack want to knock on their friends' doors too. Great, but what exactly is going on at these houses? Are parents at home? How long should they stay? Do all parents welcome knocks on their doors? This is a new world that I'm having to ramp up on quickly.

I also realized that even though I've talked to the kids about the dangers of smoking, I haven't said much about drinking and drugs. I also realized that even though I've talked about the dangers, I never said that these substances are STRICTLY NOT ALLOWED! So this week I took some time to ask the kids what they would do if they were offered a smoke or a pill--happily they said they would say no--and I said in no uncertain terms that they are not allowed to say yes to this. Whew!

Fine, but now they're off by themselves, with people I don't know very well beyond chit chat, doing who knows what!

I am breathing deeply and giving myself some time to get accustomed to this next step into independence. I miss them when they're off playing, but also like the chance to sit and read the newspaper. Will just take some getting used to.

And they are growing up too fast.

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