Lessons from Disobedience

by Stephanie Romero | More from this Blogger

08 Oct 2010 04:49 AM

I don't know if any other mom can relate to these words but I hear them often, "You treat me like I'm a baby." Sometimes I feel like saying that if I was really treating them like a baby, I would stick a pacifier in their mouth so they couldn't talk.

Okay, it's a joke but seriously, it can be frustrating on both ends. At times my children truly do feel like I am treating them like a baby. Yet at the same time I often believe that toddlers and teens aren't that much different. Besides, don't I know what is best for them?

When I do give them freedoms, I explain to them that with those freedoms comes responsibility. A good lesson in that was about to be learned by my youngest son.

It was only this past summer that I began to really let loose the reigns on my children. I finally allowed them to come and go from the house, riding to the park on their bikes with their friends or going to their friend's houses that live close by. This was a big step for me.

But I am always emphasizing to my children how important it is that they never walk alone or even bike alone. They must always be with at least one other child. They must also check in with me. If they leave one location to go to another, including coming home, they have to either text or call me on their cell phone.

Of course they think I am being overprotective. And it really doesn't surprise me that it would be my youngest that would test it out. He decided to break away from his group of friends one day last week and come home on his bike alone. He actually broke two rules. One was being alone and the other was that he didn't inform me he was changing locations.

The next thing I know he is bursting into my office with a look of fright on his face. A man in a red van had followed him, even into an alley. He said he rode the fastest he has ever ridden in his life. He just dropped his bike on the front lawn and ran downstairs to tell me.

I had two emotions. One was anger at him for disobeying and the other was fear. Was someone stalking my child? We ended up getting into the van and he showed me exactly where he first saw the van and the path they took.

I was on the lookout for this van. I didn't know exactly what I would do. At the very least I would get the license plate number. But the fear inside me began to turn to anger and so I could have very well just decided to confront the guy.

Our search was in vain. We didn't see the van and so we drove back home, as I delivered my son a good tongue lashing. It had obviously really shaken him up but I still had to get my two cents in.

As we got out of the van and started up the stairs to our house, a red van came down our block. I couldn't believe it. And then a guy jumps out and says, "I'm sorry but I think I really scared the (blank) out of your kid." He went on to explain that his bike was stolen a couple of weeks ago. He saw my son riding a bike that looked exactly like his. He said when my son turned around and noticed him in the van, he took off. The man thought it was suspicious and believed that my son had probably stolen his bike so he followed him.

He went on to say how fast my son was booking on his bike. When he dropped the bike on our front lawn and ran inside, the man had gotten out of his van to get a closer look at the bike and saw it wasn't his.

I was very grateful that he took the time to come back and explain. That alleviated my fears that someone was stalking my son. My son gave me this look as if to say, okay, so I am no longer in trouble right? Wrong.

All I can say is that thankfully it turned out to be an innocent situation but my son definitely learned some lessons from his disobedience. I don't think he will travel alone again.

Learn more about Stephanie Romero

Stephanie Romero is a professional blogger for Families and independent contractor for We Do Web Content. She has been married for 20 years and is the mother of three children ages 13, 15 and 18.

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