The other thing is...we never hesitate to put our kids in the car and drive them somewhere, right? I have never known ANYone who restricted car travel due to fear of car accidents.
Now you do
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Me too. Car accidents are my top fear for the safety of my kids and my own as well. They also ride in car seats until they're too big for them. So, DS12 is too big, but the 7 and 10 year old still fit.
We don't have much in the way of public rail transportation around here, which stinks. When I lived in Boston, I got around on foot and on the T almost exclusively. I miss that.
I do let my kids move around on their own. Lately, I've been dropping DD7 and DS10 off partway to school and letting them walk the rest of the 100m or so alone. They love it! I've been letting DS12 go places the require crossing the major streets on his own since he was 10 or 11. He's mature enough and I trust him.
As for activities, is anyone else out there tired of having to drive everywhere to get to ballet or soccer or whatever? We work pretty hard at finding stuff the kids can do after school at school, or at a very close location.
