The problem is that even well-adjusted parents are forced into this weird behavior.
We lived in an apartment complex a few years ago and it was a nightmare. There was another mother who had a son my son’s age and the two of them would go out to play in our front yard. The boys were nine and ten. The doors were open and both moms could hear the boys.
A neighbor called the police on us over and over again. And what were the boys doing wrong? Well, one time they were sitting in a tree examining ants. (”They could fall or hurt the tree.” They were perched on a branch five freakin’ feet off the ground.) Another time they were running their trucks up a grassy hill. (”They could hurt the grass.”) Another time they were playing ball. (”They could take out a window.”)
In the end, she won. We either had to be visibly watching the boys or having to hire a baby sitter.
The best part was that nine was the legal age to leave children without supervision *of any kind*. Her kids were left for hours locked in their apartment while she worked.
Around here the cops would tell her “don’t waste our time with this nonsense.”
When I was that age, I was regularly riding my bike to supermarkets, drug stores, etc. that were as distant as two miles from my home. I also knew every alley in West Whittier, Calif.
This wasn't all that long ago--Eisenhower was president. However, from the way society has changed, I may as well have lived in a different galaxy.