Are We Overprotective Parents?

Hey there. I got to thinking... Are we overprotective of our kids? The thought came up when my wife was telling me how one of her workers was complaining how his pops didn't let him ride his bike out on the street. He was 10 or so years old and could only ride his bike in his back yard. Mind you, his pops is/was a private detective so I can see where he would not want his kid on his own. My wife then said that we let our kids ride their bikes in the yard too and not on the street. He asked when she planned on letting them ride their bikes around the block, and her answer was, "When I'm walking right behind them." lol

Now... It's been a couple of days since our boy left for summer camp. We all miss him and we swear that we hear him sometimes at home. We're parents that talk to our kids daily. Even when we were in New Orleans, we called home to say goodnight to the kids. Having our son be at camp is tough since we are not allowed to call. Might make the kids homesick, we guess.

Anyways, it made me think on whether or not we're keeping the kids close to the vest. I know that when I was kid, I left through the front door in the morning and I wouldn't come back until waaaaaaaaay later in the day. And this was before I was 10 years old. I chalked it up to it just being the times and how things are different now.

As a child, my brother and I were always up to mischief and we were not in the house much. I feel as if the kids are always in the house doing 1 of 3 things: playing video games, playing with each other, or watching TV. We had to mandate a rule to make them go outside and play because I am sure that if it were up to them, they'd hang out in front of the TV all day. Every day, when we get home, we force them to go outside and play with the dogs for at least an hour. This gets them outside of the house to get some much needed outside playing time. And even then, they're in our yard and no further than that.

So I'm thinking, are the kids in the house because we don't let them take off and explore? I mean, how much exploring can you do walking down the street? Its weird because when I was a kid, I knew where my friends from school lived, so if I wanted to hang out with a friend, I'd walk to his house. Since we live in a different city from where the kids go to school, they don't have that option. Maybe that's the problem... I don't know. It's something that my wife and I will have to figure out. This is a big reason why we felt that camp would be good for our boy. To be outside, with his peers, enjoying nature and other activities. Our daughter has expressed an interest in camp and wants to go next year. My wife says that she's not sure if she can deal with 2, soon to be 4,kids away without communication. Come Saturday, we'll get a chance to speak to our boy and see how things played out. Until then, later.