Thanks for all the thoughtful responses. Yes, I do let my kid ride his bike around DC in our neighborhood, mostly on sidewalks. The safety and experience perspective others have offered applies for him. He has been taught what to do and when and I trust that he will do what's right when he's by himself. I have taught him that being safe from cars is 100% his responsibility. My experience is that he's far more responsible when on his own than with a pack of other boys his age where he seems compelled to do a "hold my beer and watch this."
On the knife angle, he got a Swiss Army knife when he turned 8, and within 30 seconds of opening it from the package gave himself a nice slice in the finger. But it happened only once and now he's very careful while using it and other sharp objects. I never knew it, but I am a "lazy" parent per the above definition. Steve On Wednesday, December 5, 2018 at 7:14:48 AM UTC-5, Eric Daume wrote: > > Ways not to use a hatchet > <https://bikingtoplay.blogspot.com/2014/01/bike-and-hatchet-update.html>: > chopping ice you're standing on: > > [image: image.png] > > Eric > > On Tue, Dec 4, 2018 at 9:36 PM Steven Seelig <hal....@verizon.net > <javascript:>> wrote: > >> I'm inspired by the new shipment Riv has of the Gransfors Bruk Hatchet, >> but not for me. My son is turning 10, and at some time in the past, >> probably when he was 5, I told him he could get one when he turned 10. >> Little did I know he would remember. He's a handy and inquisitive fellow, >> and my parenting view has always been to let him do stuff on his own. He >> has ridden his bike by himself to the local market here in the wilds of the >> city of DC since he was about 7 and seems to be semi-responsible when on >> his own. >> >> We do bike camping together, so there could be a need for a hatchet to >> chop wood for fires, but as a Grateful Dead head I'm aware that Jerry >> Garcia's brother axed off his middle finger when Jerry was 6. It worked >> out for him. >> >> My wife seems okay with letting me decide, which in most circumstances is >> a green light. I think a hatchet would be better than something with a >> longer handle. And I am willing to get him something good he can own his >> entire life. >> >> Any perspectives? >> >> Steve >> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "RBW Owners Bunch" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to rbw-owners-bun...@googlegroups.com <javascript:>. >> To post to this group, send email to rbw-owne...@googlegroups.com >> <javascript:>. >> Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. >> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. >> > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
