Dita
09-21-2004, 04:25 AM
I have two younger sisters 10 and 14. When Carson goes to my mom's, he likes to play outside with the girls. My parent's live on a cult-a-sac and the neighborhood is full of kids, so I don't mind him playing with the girls (and plus, when he stays the night with my mom, she let's him outside with the girls too). Most of the neighborhood kids come over to my parents yard to play (they have a B-ball court in the drive way, a tree swing and other fun kid stuff) and my sisters aren't allowed to leave the yard unless they ask, so it's assumed that Carson won't leave the yard either.
Well, today when the girls got tired of playing outside, they came in...without Carson. When they waltzed in and went back to their rooms my mom asked them where Carson was. They both said that he was still outside. My mom got a little angry with them, telling Taylor (the 14 year old) that she knows better than to leave Carson out there alone (even if she comes in to pee, Carson has to come inside for that minute). When we went outside to tell him he had to come in too, he wasn't in the yard or driveway. He was NEXT DOOR IN THE NEIGHBOR'S GARAGE. I about lost it!
I know it's my fault. I made the mistake of holding the girls (who are kids themselves) responsible for Carson today. I've made the mistake a few times before, but nothing like this has ever happened and I guess I didn't think it'd be a big deal for a high schooler to have a sense of responsibility and help keep an eye on her nephew.
I kept my calm when explaining to Carson how dangerous it was to leave the yard and to go into the garage of someone else without asking me first. He understood, but now I have hang ups about him being over at my mom's without me. I made it as clear as possible to my mom that I didn't want Carson outside with the girls anymore and I let her know how dissappointed I was in the situation, but she didn't seem to think it was as big a deal as I did. She yelled at the girls for not watching him (especially Taylor), but that probably wasn't the best thing to do either. I feel bad that Carson can't go play with his friends anymore unless there's an adult out there (he gets very discouraged when he's "too young" to do the things that Taylor and Riley do), but I know that his safety comes first.
Am I over-reacting? Was I wrong to feel letting him go outside in my parent's front yard under the supervision of a 14 year old in the first place?
Well, today when the girls got tired of playing outside, they came in...without Carson. When they waltzed in and went back to their rooms my mom asked them where Carson was. They both said that he was still outside. My mom got a little angry with them, telling Taylor (the 14 year old) that she knows better than to leave Carson out there alone (even if she comes in to pee, Carson has to come inside for that minute). When we went outside to tell him he had to come in too, he wasn't in the yard or driveway. He was NEXT DOOR IN THE NEIGHBOR'S GARAGE. I about lost it!
I know it's my fault. I made the mistake of holding the girls (who are kids themselves) responsible for Carson today. I've made the mistake a few times before, but nothing like this has ever happened and I guess I didn't think it'd be a big deal for a high schooler to have a sense of responsibility and help keep an eye on her nephew.
I kept my calm when explaining to Carson how dangerous it was to leave the yard and to go into the garage of someone else without asking me first. He understood, but now I have hang ups about him being over at my mom's without me. I made it as clear as possible to my mom that I didn't want Carson outside with the girls anymore and I let her know how dissappointed I was in the situation, but she didn't seem to think it was as big a deal as I did. She yelled at the girls for not watching him (especially Taylor), but that probably wasn't the best thing to do either. I feel bad that Carson can't go play with his friends anymore unless there's an adult out there (he gets very discouraged when he's "too young" to do the things that Taylor and Riley do), but I know that his safety comes first.
Am I over-reacting? Was I wrong to feel letting him go outside in my parent's front yard under the supervision of a 14 year old in the first place?