Parenting by Darwinism

We happen to live a block and a half from Princess P's school. Since we're under a mile, transportation is my responsibility.  Okay, awesome.   Now, the street we live on, and the school is on, is one of the busiest in Kansas City.  As great as the kiddo did in her self defense class last year, there's no way I'm letting her walk all the way home.

That said, I also don't want her thinking that we HAVE to take the car everywhere (and I don't wanna mess with the lemmings picking up their kids every day.)  BUT...I also want to teach her some independence and stuff, right?

So...Princess P walks to the corner her school is on.  The crossing guard helps her across the street, where I meet her.  It's a perfect compromise.

And it makes her teacher lose her freaking mind.

Now, I understand that the first day, when she wasn't sure what the plan was, she might be a little concerned.  Only a crazy person would let a seven-year-old walk home on a street this busy.  But, every day this week, her teacher has felt the need to walk her to the corner....while telling Princess things like "You're just so little, I want you to be safe.  You shouldn't walk alone."

Let me clarify.  Princess P is NEVER out of sight of an adult.  The school has teachers and guards posted all over, she doesn't leave school property until she crosses the street WITH the crossing guard, where I am waiting on the other side. She is PERFECTLY safe.  I even posted on Facebook to get other opinions, and a friend who works for Family Services says "Yeah, she's fine."

The part that really bugs me?  The constant implication that I am a Bad Parent.  Now, it wasn't until today that Princess P picked up on it, though I've been silently seething about it all week.  Telling my kid that YOU are keeping her safe implies her mother is not.  Saying she shouldn't walk implies her mother doesn't know what she's doing.  And telling her she's "too little"?  Not the kind of encouraging and empowering outlook I take with my kid.

I reassured Princess P that she was perfectly safe, and that I would never put her in danger, which she said she knew.  I politely suggested that her teacher didn't know her like I did, but would learn that she's a very independent kid.  We had a nice chat about what was appropriate for her age, and what age she'd have to be for other things. ("When CAN I walk alone?"  We'll talk about it when you're in fifth grade.  "When can I date?" When I'm dead.)  I felt rather good about our dialogue.  And then she busted out some logic worthy of a fourteen-year-old girl.

"If I had a cell phone, you'd always know I was safe!"

Well played, Princess....well played.