I let DS play alone in our yard in our seriously safe neighborhood, and I let him ride his bike alone as long as he tells me where he's going and comes back as we agree. More than once, I've had neighbors at my door, letting me know he is unsupervised, and indignantly shocked when I say, as cordially as I can, "Yes, thanks for the heads up. But he's fine!"

We keep trying to march to the beat of our own drummer, but it gets harder and harder.