Doing Something Right?

As a parent, as I'm sure with other parents, I occasionally wonder if Ed and I are doing the right thing. This happens most with our oldest since every new experience for her is a new experience for us. She has started high school now and she thinks she should be afforded a certain amount of freedom. We let her hang out with her friends as long as homework isn't due or family activities are scheduled. I do wonder, though, if we let her go too often with her friends. This particular group of girls is very social and feel they must have sleepovers every weekend.

If I had to classify us, we are not overly strict parents, but we do try to make every attempt to let her and her brother and sister know what the boundaries are and what the consequences will be if the boundaries are crossed. We also insist that the kids check in with us regularly when they are away and we let them know that we double check also. We know that we can't shield her from temptation, but we hope and pray that she is mature enough to make the right choices when temptation arises.

Last week there was an incident that tempted our oldest daughter. During a sleep over with 5 other girls, a plan was made to call a boy 2 years older who drove to pick them up at 3:00 am. After getting picked up they cruised around and hooked up with an 18 year old boy. At 3:30, the local police pulled them over. All of the parents were called to pick the girls up at the site of the pullover. Fortunately, we were not called because our daughter chose not to go along. She was the only one who stayed back at the house. The host girl's father found her asleep in the daughter's bed after the police called him. The mother called me the following morning to tell me what happened. She said our daughter was still asleep and that she'd take her home after she got up. Later when I talked to her, I asked 'Why didn't you go with your friends?' Her reply was 'I knew I shouldn't.' I then told her how happy and proud her dad and I were for her.

I guess we are doing something right. It is awful darn hard, but it must be right.