[juptVatoSoito]

Originally posted by Japher
That's not the case here DD. The kid comes over because his mom left him. You left, your mom was home so you left her, not the other way around. Did you read the part of all of my posts where I said that assuming someone will be your babysitter without asking is wrong?

I am just making the point that if a neighborhood kid shows up at my house I usually don't know that status of their parents. If a neighborhood kid showed up at my house 95 out of 100 times I and my child would be happy, they'd go out and play together and that would be the end of it. IF it was lunch time I would make 2 sandwiches and pour 2 glasses of milk instead of one. If the mother was out shopping while her kid was out playing, I probably wouldn't even know and I certainly wouldn't consider the child abandoned. And if for some reason I thought the mother was unavailable and the child needed guidance (which I do not feel is the situation when kids show up unannounced) I certainly wouldn't call Child Protective Services. I would try and solve a neighbor's problem rather than cause a neighbor a problem.

This is my last post on the issue because I can tell this is an issue where different people feel different ways. One group thinks that the best way to be a parent is to always be with your child, find all sorts of interesting things for them to do under parental supervision and make sure no harm comes to them. Another group feels that independence, childhood and neighborhood comraderie and letting a child learn from life's experiences is the way to go.

For lack of a better analogy, it's the difference between the parent who let's his kid learn how to swim at the lake or the pool as a natural part of growing up and the parent who won't let his kid near water until the parent has bought his kid the proper swimming attire, learned CPR, paid for 15 lessons and has thoroughly discussed every possible safety issue.