As a still-learning mother, I am always trying to trust our kids and let them do new things by themselves.
I recently let my 10-year-old ride his bike to nearby Big W to buy some Lego.
Why was this a big deal? Well, last year I enthusiastically said ‘yes’ to him and his sister going on a night-time scooter ride to get a Maccas sundae.
While the sundae was very much enjoyed, it was the trip to Sunshine Coast University Hospital emergency to assess the wrist injury she sustained (thankfully, just a sprain) that made the outing a disaster.
Putting the scooter incident in the back of my busy mind, I let him go to Big W.
“I need to let him fly,” I thought.
“He is not asking to be on a screen. He wants to exercise and then build stuff with his hands. It’s a win.”
When I was 10, we would travel up to the Sunshine Coast from Brisbane.
My brother and I would swim from Buddina to Mooloolaba, across the river with a cheese sandwich in a plastic bag.
We would be in and out of the ocean and wander around unsupervised for hours.
At dusk, we would swim back through the ‘sharky’ river or scab a lift in some random stranger’s tinnie.
Our parents wouldn’t give this a second thought.
How times have changed since the 1980s.
Now, my husband is giving our son a safety briefing that would put Qantas to shame simply so he can ride his bike to Big W.
We are the reverse of our parents but have we gone too far the other way?
I think so, at times.
In a hilarious twist to this hard-hitting topic, I was at my mum’s place for her birthday on the weekend.
I asked her for her car keys as we needed two cars to get to the pub for lunch.
“No,” she said.
“I don’t trust your driving. So, I removed you as a secondary driver from my insurance.”
The final knife through the heart: “Sam (my husband) can drive. He is still listed as a trusted driver.”
Jeez, mum. At 10, you trusted me to swim through tidal rivers. At 50, you don’t trust me to drive your 2007 Mazda. Who are you?
I don’t know where the middle ground of trust is, but I guess I am happy to find out … one sprained wrist at a time.
Sami Muirhead is a radio announcer, blogger and commentator. For more from Sami, tune into Mix FM
The opinions expressed are those of the author. These are not the views of Sunshine Coast News publishers.
