What do you think?

"You are SO mean!" "That's not FAIR!" "HER mom let's HER do it!"

Do those words have a ring of familiarity at all to you? I'm almost certain I've spoken them in my lifetime (although probably not the first one 'cause I liked my head where it was and didn't want it handed to me but the other two for sure). I did however have them spoken to me today and it got me a little curious, hence the poll to the right. Let me explain.

Today my 10 year old daughter's friend (also 10) came by on her bike; she lives several blocks away. Each time this friend (who I like very much by the way) comes by, my daughter wants to go bike riding around the neighborhood with her and my answer is the same each time - no, you're not old enough. It's a safety thing, particularly with some of the stuff going on in our neighborhood right now. She proceeded to ask how old she has to be to be allowed and I said 12. Of course, she had a hissy fit and that's fine. I have my reasons and I'm perfectly comfortable with my answer.

This has been a conversation some other moms and I have been having lately too - at what age do we let our kids go riding around the neighborhood? So, I'm curious, what do you think? Obviously an individual child's maturity level and the type of neighborhood one lives in might influence one's answer but generally speaking at what age have you or will you allow your kids to go riding with friends or alone without adult supervision?

Feel free to take my poll at the right, comment below or both. Thanks for your input.

Be blessed.
Melanie