"CathyTea;15046418" wrote:
"MadameLee;15046405" wrote:
I been reading some articles on the Free-Range Kids website (started by the woman known as "World's Worst Mom" because she let her then 9-year-old boy ride the NYC subway alone). Because of some of the articles, I'm reading-I wish I could have gone higher in what Canada calls Girl Guides-I never did camping in my last year of Pathfinders since the one time they could do camping was the Mother's Day weekend. I was in a different unit in my last year of Pathfinders because my previous unit shut down since neither of the leaders had kids in it anymore. I could have gone on to another level of GG (Rangers?) but due to it being lead by my 2nd unit's leaders I didn't want to be part of that (if it was any other leaders-I might not have minded so much). I wish there was an "Alterative Girl Guiding" for girls/woman for those who for some reason or other couldn't do camping in their last year of Pathfinders or didn't want to go onto Rangers. But I'm now too old to be part of "Rangers" (15-17)...
My generation (which is your parents' generation, too) were so totally free-range kids! I remember going hiking with my family when I was about five, and being the youngest, I'd get tired, so they'd find a cosy spot for me on a granite slab under a big pine and say, "Play here, and we'll be back on our way down the trail." And I'd play with pine cones and little stones, and if I got too sleepy, I'd take a nap in the pine needles, and a few hours later, on their way back down the trail, they'd pick me up! I loved it--but there's NO way parents could do that now... leaving a little kid alone in the mountains!
In our neighborhood, we were on our own from after school until my mom rang the cowbell for supper! Then after supper, we could go back outside in the summer and play out there until the streetlights came on. We had hills and woods around our house, and we could just roam as much as we wanted. It was paradise! We were always running in nature!
As for your wish... do you have something called The Sierra Club or similar to it in Canada? Or the Audobon Society, if you like birds? You might be able to find hiking clubs or outdoor clubs that fit exactly what you're looking for!
When I retire (in about 8 years, if all goes to plan) I'm looking forward with monthly hikes with Sierra Club and weekly birdwatching with Audobon Society!
I always let my Sim kids be free-range kids! :)
Canada does have a Sierra club..but it's not the same as girl guiding. Since there are no badges to collect and there's no camping as far as I can tell (and because of the one Pathfinder Unit closing-I haven't been camping since I was 16). Of course camping without my mom would be a bit of an issue since when I did try to camp between the ages of 6-10 without my mom..I got sick each time. When I was 10 I got low blood sugar sick that I didn't wake up one day. I woke up in the hospital. So after that day mom had to go with me to all the GG camps (she was a Brownie leader when my sister was young)
