Jacob was walking to school yesterday afternoon and noticed a friend of Julianna's (age 8) and her big sister and the sister's friend up on their roof. The girls shouted hi to him and off he went. When he came home he told me about it, shocked and in awe that they were climbing around on the roof, the roof of their 2-story home, the slanted roof.
Now...what do I do? Do I assume the mom knows her children go out on the roof and shut up and mind my own business? (After reminding Julianna that under no circumstances is she allowed to go play on the roof?) or do I call the mom and let her know, in no way questioning parenting (truly) or anything else, just knowing that I would want to know if my kids were playing on the roof.
WWYD?
I have 1 husband and 4 kids, 28, 20, 11 and 9...I'll be doing the mom thing forever, hence 4evermom.
8 comments:
We had the same thing years back, not a two story though. It's a hard decision but I think I would err on the side of the kid's safety. I know I'd want to know if they were doing that when I wasn't looking and if she does know and doesn't care then at least your mind is at ease knowing you had informed her.
I'd let them know. this is the kind of thing kids get into with a friend over--"but my parents let me do this all the time!" while not mentioning (remembering) they have a rancher built in to a hill. Something like "I'm just making sure you knew that X, Y, and Z were on your roof the other day" gives you the opportunity to share without sounding disapproving. Who knows--I wouldn't want my kids on any roof, period, but honestly, I can't believe some of the other stuff parents let their kids do! (Drive ATVs at the age of 5 with no helmet comes to mind...) And I'm sure I do something that horrifies someone. But I'd want to know.
oooh, that's a tough one! I would think if you know the mom to be a conscientious parent, you should tell her. I wonder how many things my boys did when I wasn't looking that I would've been horrified at, and noone told me?
Thank goodness no one got hurt.
You tell. she may be aware and be okay with it. and if she isn't, wouldn't you want someone to tell you if your kids were doing that? (My siblings and I were out on the roof A LOT as kids and up in trees, etc. People would call my mom and she would say "thanks, I already know".)
Growing up, we were always told that if a situation was life threatening or morally threatening that we should tell someone. This one could definitely fall into that category. We had a time about a year ago that my kiddos were up on the roof and had it not been for my brother spotting them, we would have had no idea. We just thought they were playing in their rooms.
To be on the safe side, you could lead into the conversation with a disclaimer simply saying that perhaps they allow that at their house, but you just want to make sure they know... :) Good luck!
I'd call the mother. In a case like that (where there is obvious danger) I'd rather let someone think I'm a nosey parker than find out later that a child got hurt.
I would totally want to know if my kids were on the roof. Eeks!
I think you should have called. At least that would take the feeling of blame away from you and your child.
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