Walking to school

You may have read on an earlier post, I am contemplating this "free-range" idea.  For those not interested in this, it freaks them out completely.  My aunt is pretty sure that I am being grossly neglectful by just considering it.  The question that has been raised by others is how can I embrace free-range with a child that might also have an attachment disorder?  Well, I am taking baby steps.

So my first step was letting Ladybug walk to school today.  Sort of...

Before anybody freaks out (or congratulates me), let me explain the situation.

I live right next door to the school.  Literally.  Imagine if you will...   A townehome rental community on a corner of 2 major roads.  This community is made up of about 4 dead end streets.  I live on the first one (at the end of the dead end).  You go 4 streets over and you hit a row of trees.  A row.  Not a forest.  A row of trees.  On the other side of the row is a paved walking path.  On the other side of the path is another row of trees -- again a row.  Immediately on the other side of that row of trees is the school.  Well, the parking lot is between the row of trees and the school doors.  But there is a fenced in walk-way from the row of trees, around the parking lot, directly to the front door of the school.  And there is a paved side walk from the street all the way up to the fenced walk-way to the school.  From my front door to the school is .2 miles.  .2 miles.  That's it. 

So today, I let her walk.  From the street at that pathway leading to the school all the way to the front door.  We are talking about 100 feet.  Instead of getting in the carpool lane and dropping her off right at the front door. 

I didn't tell her in advance.  I drove up to the pathway and parked.  She looked at me puzzled. 

Me: Do you want to walk to school?
Ladybug:  What?  Me?  A walker?
Me: Sure.  If you want.
Ladybug:  YEAH!

She could not get out of the car fast enough. And she had the biggest grin on her face.  She turned around about a dozen times walking up to the fenced walking path, encouraging me to leave.  Finally at the top (because she had to climb a set of stairs to get to the fenced pathway) she turned, grinned, waved, and ran off to school. And then I drove to work.

When I picked her up from her after school program she couldn't wait to tell me about the entire adventure.  She was so proud of herself. 

I let her walk 100 feet to school today (remembering that at her age I walked 1.1 miles to my school).

I have promised a full review of Free-Range Kids.  It will come soon.

Mean Mama