Something that I find difficult, for a variety of reasons, is deciding on what is reasonable to allow my girls, in terms of how much freedom to go out on their own. At 7.5 and 9, there are some things that they are clearly too young for, (and I'm aware that some parents may well consider them too young for things that I already allow) but there are others that they feel ready for and, much as I don't want them to grow up too fast, I think they're ready for too. For example, K has been popping to the Co-op (less than 10 minutes walk, 2 very quiet roads and 1 slightly busier but with a zebra crossing) to buy something I need when I'm in the middle of cooking usually, since just before she turned 8. I trust her, we're well known in the Co-op, we've talked through what to do in different situations, for example, she needs to be home by a certain time (she knows that this is for my benefit as much as hers!), so if the queues are more than about 5 people, she's to leave it and come home anyway. M thinks it's very unfair that she hasn't been allowed to do this yet and soon she will be able to, but not just yet, although she has been to the post box for me a couple of times. Something that I haven't yet allowed, and probably won't for some time, is let either of them go anywhere like this at a time when most children are at school, as, although it's unlikely to be an issue, I don't think it's fair on them to leave them open to the possibility of being questioned about why they're not in school. Until today, whenever either of them has been out, it's been for a specific task, straight there and back again. Today we were, unsurprisingly, making more wands and we ran out of hot glue gun sticks. I suggested that K & M could go together to get some more, the shop being a little bit further than the Co-op, but with another zebra crossing for the extra road. It was a new thing for M to go that far without an adult, which she was very happy about, but the really big new thing about it, was that they asked if they could go to the park as well and after some discussion we agreed. The agreement was that at least one of them need to wear a watch and they had to be home by 2.30pm (not 2.31 which they asked if it would be okay). They set off on their scooters at about 1.50pm and I surprised myself somewhat by how relaxed I was. A and I had a cuppa and did some of the crossword and I started clock watching about twenty past and a just gone twenty five past we heard them outside chatting away with our next-door neighbour. So a successful experiment and at weekends and school holidays I think K & M will be allowed the bit of freedom that they feel the desire and the readiness for.
In other news, we are in the throes of making lots more wands, partly because K & M are making them for various friends and now also mini versions for some of their toys but also because we have decided to make some to sell at a HE Comic Relief meet up. I have also been continuing to read Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, both while K & M are wand making and also while they've been building their Lego Creator houses. I have suggested that they might like to try designing their own houses, and M has made some minor alterations to hers, but K prefers to stick to the instructions included in the set. This morning when I came downstairs I found K on the floor in the front room with our big dictionary open in front of her and a small booklet that she'd made. I'm not allowed to know what it's about as it's top secret and in fact she'd punched a hole in the booklet and put a small padlock through it! However she had apparently used the dictionary successfully to find out whatever it was she wanted to spell.
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