So, I read an article the other day about gentle parenting. Which sounds frankly bizarre more like parenting with constant negotiation and no boundaries. Absolutely not the upbringing I had. Not saying my parents were harsh but we definitely existed in an era where you did what you were told. Period. I have a co-worker who says her children have to have a certain app on their phone turned on so she can know where they are at all times. And the condition of not having that app turned on is they lose their phones. My niece has children around the same age, and I asked her if she employed anything of that nature and she absolutely does. Is life more dangerous for kids now-a-days so this kind of tracking is necessary? Because back when I was …. age 10 and up, as long as I popped my head in to say hi once every hour or two – and not that frequently by the time I hit my teens – no one seemed to care. I spent endless hours down by the creek with my dog, by myself and no one thought anything of it. And if there were close calls and experiences I perhaps could have avoided then I did not make the same mistake again. I think that kind of freedom taught me judgement. You either lived with the consequence of your actions, or you could share missteps and mishaps with your parents and still live with the consequence of your actions, just not ones of your own design. I believe stubbing your toe figuratively speaking is how you learn to set your own appropriate boundaries. Maybe if young folks didn’t always have someone throwing a life version of an air mattress their way to cushion the fall, perhaps it wouldn’t seem like common sense isn’t really common. But I didn’t have kids and willingly admit it is far easier to be an auntie and armchair quarterback when you don’t have skin in the game.