Getting a Dose of Your Own Medicine

I have never been a conventional parent. I have always encouraged my kids to think outside of the box and to push the envelope. I have never 'sheltered' my kids the way so many parents today do, rather I have chosen that oh so difficult task of explaining things to them and letting them decide for themselves. A very good example of this is the fact that I have always let my kids read anything they choose and watch any type of movies that they choose, only avoiding the actual sex scenes. When they were younger, we used to sit and talk about how they make the fake blood and guts in the movies. As a result of that, none of them ever had nightmares or saw monsters in the closet. They knew from an early age that those things are just fun to imagine and be frightened by while eating popcorn. I honestly believe that this has created a level of common sense and intelligence in my kids that I rarely see in their friends of the same ages. When they were younger and had a friend over, I always asked the other parents what they were allowed to watch. More often than not, they weren't allowed to watch any of the scary movies that my kids liked to enjoy on a weekend night. I always thought this was silly but, of course, respected their wishes. I always thought that they must hate the fact that their kids would come home on a regular basis and say 'But my friend gets to do that -or- my friend gets to watch that.' I'm sure I was a pain in more than one parent's ass over the years. I am getting it all back now. My daughter has a friend whose Mom makes me look like June Cleaver. The kid is great and we love having her around and her and Magee are two little peas in a pod. She literally does whatever she wants, says whatever she wants - if you know what I mean- and tells stories of her Mom and brother getting into fist fights. They have an old couch in their front yard, for Pete's sake! Needless to say, I try to encourage them to be here as much as possible but the desire to go there and play or spend the night is always there. I am running out of activities (that I don't really care to do) to plan to keep them here. I honestly believe that Magee has a very strong sense of self and won't be influenced by these people but I still don't like it. Sorry to those more conventional parents that may have felt the same way about us. If it's any consolation, I'm getting mine.