Freedom + Walking

Life is different over here. Today provided an excellent example. C.J. attended a soccer tournament that was hosted by his school, but at a local school's gym. The school was located halfway between his school and the town center (Dorfplatz). When C.J. called to ask whether I was picking him up or if he had to walk back to school to catch the late bus, I told him to just walk home -- about a 20 minute walk. C.J. said he wasn't sure how to find the Dorfplatz from his current location. I told him to just look for the church steeple and he'd figure it out. Sure enough, after about 20 minutes, C.J. knocked at the back door. He said he walked down the street, saw a sign that pointed to the Dorfplatz, and followed it. He knows his way home from the Dorfplatz -- we walk the route often.

In the States, he never would have just been "released" after the tournament without the coach seeing a responsible adult. I would be considered a bad parent for making my 11-year old child walk 20 minutes, part of it in the dark. People would be worried that he'd get lost. Here, people wonder why my kids take the school bus when they can walk to school in 30 minutes. He had a cell phone; he couldn't get too lost. Trust me, our town isn't that big. In exchange, he felt responsible and independent. And now he knows that if he is ever at that gym, it's just as easy to walk home as it is to walk back to school and wait for the bus to bring him home.