Do you stay with your kids at the playground?

I have a 15 month old and I do not let her out of my sight. I know at that age you can't, but even when I was babysitting, I did not let the kids out of my sight. This day and age you never know who is watching and waiting and as you mentioned, something could happen and you would need to be there.

The hardest thing for me has been learning to give more freedom to my 13 year old daughter, because I am a watcher and worrier. But in some situations, I have learned to allow her some freedom which in turn seems to foster responsibility. My son is 7 and I watch him much more closely, but perhaps not as much as I did her at that age. You relax a little with second children but he is a boy and they love to do dangerous things. So even when he is in my backyard, I am out there every few minutes just to check and make sure he's okay. I think all mothers live in a world of tension and heightened sense of danger until their kids grow up and move away from home.

My kids are about to be 6 and three. I wouldn't dream of leaving them at the park by themselves with all the reports of pedophiles running about. But in your situation I would allow them to be at the park by themselves as long as the mentality of the 12 year old is sound. I would teach my 12 year old to look out for the other two, and about "stranger danger" I might even opt to get the 12 year old a cell phone, even if it is just a firefly phone, a phone that has four buttons, and the parent sets those numbers to those buttons so they can only call those people. That way if anything does go wrong, the 12 year old could call me and let me know. I understand your concern, in this day and age, but at the same time, your 12 year old is old enough to have a little more freedom and responsibility.

I do stay with my kid every where he goes. I gave him space to explore, and making friends or playing with friends, but I told him never to get out of my sight. In these days, you can't be too careful. I have a bad feelings when I see kids by themselves. I think parents should take active care of their kids.

When my kids where growing up I stayed with them in the park, mall and other places. I am not the mother who dropped off her kids and came back several hours later to pick them up. I would have been at the play ground, in the pool if I was you. I think you make the right choice. Keep your children safe.