I am totally doing the same thing! We are such hypocrites! And I am thanking God right now that all three of my kids are boys!!!
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He knew the risk thoughā¦ And evidently it was worth it! 
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I just have a 12 year old girl. She keeps to herself so far. She currently has a friggin animal skull collection in the back yard from her explorations. I feel that she will give some boys a hard time when the time comes. Her father thinks he will be the one to scare the boys but I think she might be some competition. Lol
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Thatās awesome, I like tough girls who know how to handle the boys!!! My oldest is 13 now and he is starting to get the teenage attitude! I feel bad sometimes because times have changed so much since I was young and I find myself not wanting to give him as much freedom as he would like to have, nor as much as I had when I was even younger than he is now. I am very protective over my kids, as any parent is, but I wish I didnāt have to be as strict as I am. Its not because I donāt trust him, I just canāt trust other peopleā¦there are a lot more dangers in the world today than there were back then.
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My daughter is not allowed to do much at all. She can not go as far and can not do whatever she wants as I did. The leash is too tight and it makes me sad that it would be a terrible thing to give her more freedom nowdays.
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Sounds like the exact same struggle I am havingā¦it does make me sad. I donāt want him to grow up and hate me cause he didnāt get to experience things and really enjoy his childhood, but these days I canāt just let him go roam around like I did when I was young. Times really have changed. I just hope that our kids understand when they are older that we just wanted to protect them.
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Being a kid now is not the same as it once was. It is a shameā¦
Well, she has the smartphone and computer, loves drawing anime characters and has just about all the art supplies I can buy her, but she canāt just go and kick it like we used to do.
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Exactly, find what they like and keep them busy with it! My boys are athletic and love to play sports so we try to keep them in whatever they want to play.
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I have met way too many people lately that have custody of their grandkids or other peoples kids on account of drugs or other trouble. I donāt recall so many young adults and kids that had these issues in such numbers when I was young. So many adults still living with parents too. Living and school is so expensive now. I think it is harder for many young people to find their feet.
I think I would like to give my daughter as much freedom as possible, but it seems that kids and young adults are losing the ability to manage their freedom anymore.
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You are absolutely right. I feel the same on that topic. I went down the wrong road when I was young and ended up being addicted to heroin for a whileā¦I have hit rock bottom several times, but I finally got my life back on track and have been sober since 2012, and have since gone back to college. I am currently 5 credits away from graduating with my Bachelors in Applied Behavioral Science and a minor in Psychology. I hope to one day help others who are like me. I want to be an addiction and recovery counselor. So I know all to well about being irresponsible with too much freedom and finding trouble, and that is the last thing I want for my kids. One day I will tell them my reasoning for the way their dad and I raise them, and hopefully they will learn from our mistakes and not feel like they are paying for them.
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Itās hard being a parentā¦
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But easy enough becoming one, unfortunately for too many people.
Hey, making babiesā¦ thatās one thing I couldnāt do as a child, so there was a benefit to growing up after all.
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Good job! It is great to see that someone can turn their life around. What you went through can make you all the stronger as a parent and more understanding as well.
I have had my fair share of derailments. My ex husband still struggles with opiate addiction and I can only hope he and his gf can get better. They are great people, but have their lifestyle that controls them and not the other way around.
Some people let addiction control their life but some are so much stronger and wise because of their tangle with it.
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I donāt want to be a downer after reading all the happy stories but I donāt miss a thing. It was horrible and I couldnāt wait for it to be over.
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I had a rough one too in a lot of ways, trust me. You came through it; thatās something. I bet most folks had a bone or two in their closet.
But I do remember school snow days fondly. Wake up expecting a math test, but instead rushing off to the big hill behind the school and actually smiling.
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I miss playing Little League Baseball. 
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Once I saw this thread started I thought, āWow, great threadā, replied, watched more replies, and more, and so on. Figured for SURE, Iād find one that would be my favorite (hehe, beyond my own that is), and I found it.
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I miss quite a few things but these two i miss the most.
#1 A good nights sleep.
#2 Deep sea fishing with my granddad.
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