A few days ago, we took the kids out for a walk around the neighborhood.

Wait, lemme start again. A few days ago, the kids said they wanted to go play at the park in the last few hours of the day. So, we pushed them out the front gate and told them to get a head start, we'd meet them there.

See, my kids aren't just turned loose to make their way to the park to play, or to walk to a friend's house, or to walk to and from school. But my oldest is going into 7th grade, my son is going into 6th grade and my baby is going to be a 3rd grader.

At their ages, I was riding my bike to and from school with my sister and a group of friends. I was allowed to travel (again, with siblings or friends) around the neighborhood, and although there was always a parent aware of where we were headed (most of the time) and we made some iffy choices (searching the bushes for hobos, anyone?) we were fine. We were pretty independent, could navigate the universe that was the neighborhood and parks that made up our stomping grounds, and had the Fear of Strangers and White Vans burned into our brains.

My kids? Hell, I doubt they could even find their way to the mailbox alone some days. I'm not saying it is good or bad, it is what it is. These days, I'm like a mama bird looking at my very overgrown chicks in the nest, knowing it is time to give them a sharp push out of the nest, but feeling like I've missed my window a bit.

So, we pushed 'em out the gate and watched to see what they did, following behind at a leisurely pace. They looked shocked by the sudden freedom, and took off like a shot... in sort of the right direction. They got to the one intersection and seemed to be debating whether to go left or right. I gestured to my youngest which way to go from two blocks back, and she took off again. When we rounded the corner and continued down the street, I saw the kids running like manics across the entrance to a court, over and over.

What the...? I thought.

And then, we saw what they were doing... there was one of those mobile radar devices that police departments park around to show motorists how fast they are going. Presumably these are designed to encourage people to slow down. Most teenaged drivers take these as a challenge to go as fast as they can. My kids? They were trying to clock how fast they could run.

11 MPH!

12 MPH!

16 MPH!

Does not compute. But the kids think it is hilarious.

At the park, we played on the equipment and I took a bunch of photos with my phone.

When the wind kicked up and the temperature began to drop, we pointed the kids in the general direction of home, and watched them fly home, straight as arrows.

Will I let them go to the park unaccompanied this summer? Probably not. But if I ever make good on my threat about leaving them on the side of the road and making them walk home if the undesirable behavior of the day does not stop right the heck now, it seems that we are one step closer to them actually getting back to our door.

Not that will happen. (It might.)