My wife fears for the worst all the time … she’s a pretty rational person with an penchant for irrational fears (she’s aware of this). So I get away with making statements like you made all the time lol … I also try not to deliver them with any sarcasm - I’m very dry (not sure if that comes across in the forums but my sense of humor is very dry, sarcastic and irreverent).
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I let my 7 year old wander the neighborhood on his bike and play with the other kids. He has to come home when it gets dark. He also rides to school by himself (about half a mile). I thought that was normal.
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Really? That’s such a rare thing for husbands. Haha.
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Fuck that fucking shit! Holy crap. I’d be an orphan…I was alone for like 5-6 hours at a time in the neighborhood and backyard.
F150s do not have gas caps.
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For all the serious weirdness the flyover country can dish out, I’m grateful that this has never been a serious concern around here. If you weren’t at one of the top 5 research universities on the coast I’d say “move!”
Nope, you just shove your whole wallet directly in the tank.
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Sure feels that way. It’s bad when you start to think of it in hours worked to pay for the gas. Especially, when you have to drive a full tanks worth of gas that day for work.
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It WAS normal for me anyway
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My only problem with your anecdote about CPS is, in cases like the one in the article; leaving your child alone in a car for 3 minutes, letting them play alone in the backyard or letting them walk a few blocks to a friends house, they should never have to grovel before a judge or apologize for anything. They should be telling the judge, CPS, and the nosey twat who reported them that they can all go fuck themselves.
On the other hand, I am a first responder, and therefore mandatory reporter. The only reports I have filed, or gotten my supervisor to file, we would have reported without being mandated to. And we have reported the same people multiple times, and no action has ever been taken that we can see, aside from the slap on the hand, because the children, or elderly disabled parent was still left in a literally shitty situation. Except it seems they stop calling 911. After you report them the second time you hear them whispering to each other that “you shouldn’t have called them”.
Yeah, I have a low opinion of social services. No offense to your mother, I hope she is one of the good ones.
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I am the same… although, I’m told when I tell a joke, I am too serious; when I am serious, I’ll sometimes say it with a smile and use inflections that convey a joke.
Most of the time they don’t from what I understand. Half the CPS calls my mom has been involved in she never even heard back. Tbh I’m not sure if that means CPS didn’t take action or not
My mom says the same thing. She’s also a mandatory reporter I believe (or at the very least acts like one).
She essentially runs (administrator) a glorified YMCA that’s run by the city. So while she’s technically “in” social services, she isn’t the same entity as CPS
I bet you get a (form) letter from social services thanking you for your concern, though!
To be clear, this didn’t actually happen in my town, it was just a story that I remember reading about.
Agree, that’s kind of my issue.
Fun story time: one of the very few times that childhood ActivitiesGuy got in trouble with his parents (I was/am a pretty obedient follower-of-rules), I was 10-11 years old and I walked over to a neighbor’s house to ask if I could shoot some hoops with their son. My mom was upset after I got home - not because I walked 100 yards without adult supervision, but because one of my parents’ rules was that you did not “invite yourself” to someone’s house without an invitation or at least calling to ask permission. Had I called them on the phone and asked if Johnny was home and wanted to shoot some hoops, no problem, but since I just walked over & said “Hey, I’m here, let’s shoot some hoops” it was trouble.
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Oh for sure. Both my parents worked when I was a kid so my sister and I had to let ourselves in when I hit 8 or so (my sister was 10) - we had stuff we had to do (chores/homework) then it was free reign until 630 or so when it was dinner time (street lights coming on type of thing) and we’d (all the neighborhood kids) go home. There were a few parents who would kind of keep an eye out in case something needed attention but we were pretty free to get into w/e trouble we could.
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My parents dumped the main line when I was seven… When they did that, my parents and I got cell phones. I ran around my neighborhood all day, every day. I just called my parents ever two hours to let them know I was ok. One of my friends lived 12 blocks or a little over 1 mile away. I’d ride my bike or my razor scooter over there from the age of 7-13.
I walked a half mile to school when I was in kindergarten. I had to argue with my wife about letting our daughter walk to school when she was in fifth grade and the school was less than 200 meters away.
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I walked home from kindergarten once when my babysitter was a little late picking me up. Apparently I’ve always been impatient and hated waiting on other people. Needless to say the sitter shit herself…
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Same here, it was like a huge thing to be able to ride your bike to school on your own. Everybody wanted to do it when they could (only 3rd graders and above we’re allowed).
Sounds about right. My mom was a stay at home mom, and she’d kick us out of the house to go play. Well, that and my TV/Nintendo time was limited… so when that was maxed it was football, basketball, tag, and bike ramps.
Wouldn’t trade that time outside for anything.
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Shit, looking back at it I wish my tv/nintendo time had been more limited than it was lol
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