I was just outside and some kids went by on bikes, a boy about 15ish, a girl 10ish and a little boy about 5ish. They were riding and laughing without a care in the world. They are unaffected by the fears that adults have to / choose to worry about . Why not? Our neighborhood is safe, quiet, very rural. They probably do not know there is one RSO at the end of the street and another RSO next door to me, about 300 yards away. They're just enjoying life and being kids. And I'm glad they can be. Of course, my mind is distracted and all I can think is they are roaming footloose and fancy free and what is really so wrong with that?
ON topic. When my now almost adult daughter was 4 she begged for a kitty and after some searching we found the winner. We brought him home and set him up in the house for housecat life . When he got older he wanted to go outside so bad . I would not let him. My daughter , in all of her wisdom at about 5 yrs of age, wanted him to go out. I reminded her of all the dangers, cars on the road, neighborhood dogs and the coyotes. We have coyotes nightly roaming around looking for a meal. I said he won't live if he goes out there. There are too many dangers. She said to me that if he did not live, at least he would have been free to life the cat's life he was born to live and that cats were not made to live inside and he clearly needed and longed to go out into the cat world. I tried really hard to talk her out of this thinking at her age she could not understand how badly his death would break her heart. She said she understood and it was a chance she would have to take because he needed to be happy more than she needed to be happy . So out he went and had a blast and roamed free and wild. He caught baby rabbits and birds and some times he 'd stay gone all night. We would wake up in the morning hoping he was at the door and he was. He always came back. That kitty is now pushing 13. He comes and goes as he pleases and comes in at least every day to nap and eat and visit us. On cold nights he stays in all night. Of course he could have been killed the first week ! If it had been up to me and all my fear and anxiety and paranoia of what might happen to a lone cat on the prowl, he would never have gone outside. If it was up to me he would have missed one heck of a fun life. The wisdom and naivety of my little 5 yr old gave him the life he was meant to live .