My kiddo is all about playing outside (yay!), and her big thing is "stands": she wants to have a lemonade stand, jewelry stand, flower stand, and now, a candy stand, featuring her "extra" Halloween candy. It's great that she wants to get rid of some of it, enterprising that she wants to make money off it, and alarming to this mommy that the kiddo gets too close to the road and starts yelling at passing cars to buy her candy.
"Too close to the road" is subjective; other parents don't have a problem with their kids playing in their front yards unless they are almost in the road. One of my concerns is speeding drivers, but I also worry about how she calls out to people as they pass by. I'm afraid that one day, someone will stop, and instead of stopping for candy or whatever, they will stop for my kiddo.
You can call me paranoid, but you hear so many stories of kids who are grabbed right by their houses, on their way to school, etc. that it's unrealistic to think that it couldn't happen here. I try to keep a close eye on the kiddo, but I have work to do inside and I can't watch her every single second, so I need her to stay near the house. That doesn't go over very well, especially when she wants to talk to one of the neighbors or check out what someone else is doing.
I need to point out that the neighbors I do know are good people and I know that they all keep an eye on my kiddo when she is outside (especially when she is playing with their kids), but I don't know everybody, nor can I control who comes into our neighborhood. So, "better safe than sorry" is my mantra.
As the kiddo gets older, I will get a little less rigid (but probably not less paranoid) and allow her more freedom, because if I don't, she will demand it. Which will be fine, because she will have taken lots of self defense classes. And I can get a Rottweiler.
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