Today was the end of summer block party. Not only did we wake to a moon bounce at the foot of the driveway, but promises of sno-cones, face painting, fire trucks, and pinatas. We watched people start mingling in the street and brewed a pot of very strong coffee. I steeled myself for injuries in the moon bounce and tears if the pinata broke before they got a swing, and ventured out into the neighborhood. Surprisingly, the attraction that excited the children the most was the street. Playing in the street! No cars, no rules, no holding hands. To just run out your front door and continue on without fear of bodily harm or a panicky mother. How often do the children get the freedom to just go? To go out the front door and keep on going? I wish it was a more frequent option. But it is not, not on our street.

Oh how quickly came the urge to relocate to a place with more space and slower roads. To give the children the freedom of a world that truly is theirs to explore. Surely that is not the only option. What changes I can make here, right now. Can their days be less restrictive? Can I give them a world of open roads, rather than doling it out in small safe pieces?

Leif, I know, was hooked on the street. We play "mommy grabs me as I step off the sidewalk into the road" every single morning. Today he just stepped off and kept on walking. Up and down the block repeatedly. Finally he lay down on the asphalt and stared at the sky. And he was so happy. Maybe it was simply the novelty of new experience, but I doubt it. Definitely time to stop and consider how their world appears to them, and make certain it is the world I want them to be living in.