SS's friend's Mom and older sister called the house 4 times to find out what was going on. Neither SS nor his friend had the foresight to make up their mind (they were more concerned with playing on the xbox). I think SS and his friend honestly thought they could get away with staying over the whole weekend.

I don't understand your question. If I say no, does this mean I should buy SS a gun? I taught SS to be aware of his surroundings. SS knows karate, but that doesn't mean dick if you are facing the unknown. You keep your wits about you. So I don't understand the point of your question. If confronted by something or someone you don't know, you don't stand and fight, you run. Which is exactly what I would do.

However the likelyhood of being in a confrontation like that is about the same as being kidnapped by aliens. Don't worry, I got SS an aluminum cap to keep his brain from being scanned.

You mean apart from a stern talking to? Nah. Having to walk that distance at night was punishment enough.

LOL!

Aswang...I do not mean to make fun, I really don't.... but you sorta remind me of the father of one of my college buds.

I would meet up at his house from time to time and when we wanted to go out he would ask his Dad for the car. His Dad ALWAYS had some warning to tell him "Be careful! It is raining and slippery outside!" Or "Be careful, it is dark out there and the street lights on Elm street are out"...There was always some hazzard out there in some way shape or form.

Well I was at my friend's house on a sunny bright Sunday morning in the summer. My friend asked his Dad if we could borrow the car to go to the tennis courts. His Dad, seemingly bereft of any potential hazzards to warn us about said "Be careful! There are Nazis out there!"

Oh my god, I don't think I ever laughed so hard!!!!

>There is so much fear mongering going on in this society, about everything, its the way of our country now. Sad really....<

I agree. It's sad. Like I said, the facts and figures about the violent crimes (rape, kidnapping, assault) hasn't changed much in the last 50 years(and in some cases have gone down) in my neck of the woods. The only difference is, more people are aware that these things happen. So, I guess I am an unfit parent because I refuse to be afraid of what *could* happen? I mean, by that logic, my Dad should still be driving me back and forth to work every day for fear that someone might do some mean and nasty things to me.

There is still a very big disparity between what I believe SS is capable of doing/remembering for himself and what my DW believes that SS is capable of doing for himself.

On the issue of finding his way around the neighborhood at night, DW and I are in 100% agreement with each other. I think this is due to an incident that happened last year. Long story short, SS asked to "hang out" with some friends after school one time. I was against it, but DW was for it. SS assured DW that he could find his way home.

Ok, fine.

So SS took the bus, but didn't realize that the rush hour bus route schedule was different than off-peak hours. SS wound up at the bus station at 9:00pm and called DW in a panic begging her to come pick him up. DW said no. I was out and she wasn't about to leave BS and BD in the house alone. SS came home crying. He hadn't asked to hang out with friends after school but he knows the bus schedules a lot better now.

In my neck of the woods, there is no curfew. No one is allowed loitering past 11:00pm. So kids (meaning teens) sitting in a bus shelter waiting for a bus to take them home. That's okay as the kids are in transit. Kids sitting in a park laughing, tossing a football around? That's not okay.

>I wouldn't let any human that I felt was incapable of even buttering toast walk to a bus stop that late but that's me.<

I love how people hone in on that

SS DOES know how to butter toast, but he still tries to get DW to do it for him. Same thing with cutting pork chops, BBQ chicken, etc. DW still goes in to do it for him because he does that "Poor little helpless me!" routine but she is getting better at telling him "You're not a kid anymore! Knock it off!" but every now and then, I have to intervene.

DW and I both know that SS is capable of navigating through public transit, even at night.

The thing with my SS is that it happened twice before that he asked for a sleepover and somehow that sleepover got stretched into a whole weekend affair. Friend comes over Friday right after school, stays over the ENTIRE weekend, and I end up having to drive friend back late Sunday night (because there are no more busses). I was pissed when that happened and I explained to DW and SS that that wasn't happening again. A sleepover (to me) means friend comes over in the afternoon, sleeps over and leaves by NOON the next day on his own. I was VERY clear on this. SS and his friend may have heard me, but obviously it didn't sink in. Like I said above, SS was trying to stretch the sleepover into a weekend-long affair....and take it for granted that we would drive his friend home.

Also, as I stated numerous times now, my neighborhood is a suburb that is quite safe. The streets are well lit and SS knows the bus routes quite well. His friend also lives in the same neighborhood. If his friend lived across town or something, the situation would have been different. I would have told the kid to either go home straight after supper, or he could stay over and go home at noon tomorrow.

>I NEVER went to my friends' house again unless I knew I had a ride home. <

This is probably why SS's friend didn't want to come over the next day! LOL