(Cross-posted in parenting) I am currently brainstorming about ways to meet two of my 10yo dd's needs that I see as very much related to one another: her need to explore the city and interact with people on her own, and her need to earn money. She is not satisfied with the paths we've been taking up 'til now to try to meet these needs.
But I need to be honest that dh and I (dh even moreso than me) are nowhere near the place of being able to completely do the free-range thing. It even bothers dh that I let her walk half-a-block or so ahead of her sister and me when we are out walking places together; she likes to do this because it gives her at least some sense of being independent, and he worries about her getting snatched by someone driving by.
Our inner city neighborhood is primarily composed of families like us who are honest, hardworking, and doing their best to make ends meet and do a good job raising their children. But then, never too far from the surface, there are these other people making their way illegally through activities like drug dealing and prostitution.
It's been more than a year since we had a neighbor who was an obvious drug dealer, and it's been a few months since one of our neighborhood prostitutes was trying to use our block as a place to park and do business with her johns ... so I'm not saying we see this activity all the time or even frequently. But we can never really forget that it's happening nearby.
So we still don't let our 10yo dd walk around the neighborhood by herself. We walk places together, and she plays with neighborhood friends out in their yards where we can see her. We did just get to know one family well enough that their kids started playing in our house and our girls started playing in theirs -- but they moved a couple months ago. There's a lot of moving.
As far as earning money, dd earns occasional money by babysitting her little sis for an hour or so when I'm really busy on the phone with my English lessons, or I need a little more sleep. She also earns occasional money by helping dh with tough jobs in the yard or garden. But she wants to GO OUT and earn money for herself.
She has a strong interest in sales, and has earned a few dollars selling some cylindrical shapes she made with paper and painted. She is actually a lot more interested in the sales-part than she is in developing the actual product ...
So the other day I got the idea that maybe I can take an Avon route, which I would be interested in doing for myself for the social aspect and also for earning a little side money, as well as to give dd the opportunity to gradually branch out on her own. Since we've never had an Avon lady knock on our door in the almost six years we've lived here, it seems probable that I could get our neighborhood as a route.
I realize that a lot of this is getting handled more online these days, but one unique feature of our neighborhood is that lots of folks don't have internet access, but might still enjoy the convenience of shopping from their own homes and having products delivered to their doors. I don't see it as a huge money-making venture, but mainly as a small side income and a growth experience for dd.
At the moment, dh thinks it's way too dangerous for dd and me to go out knocking on strangers' doors, even together, but he's slowly coming around ... and I'm thinking we could gradually work it out that dd might one day have our immediate block as her territory (up til that point, we could do it all together and split the profits 50/50), and maybe eventually she could take on a couple of the surrounding blocks, carrying a cell phone so she could check in with us and we could also check on her if she's gone too long.
I'd make it a policy that when she's on her own, she doesn't go into any houses unless it's someone we know well and have designated as a safe place. This is our current policy for playing in the neighborhood. She plays out front where she's easily visible, and she can knock on her friends' doors to ask if they can come out, but she doesn't go in.
I think selling Avon would also help her develop her telephone skills, as some customers would call in to give orders, and we'd also be calling some customers to let them know about sales on the products they like, and so on.
What do you think?
But I need to be honest that dh and I (dh even moreso than me) are nowhere near the place of being able to completely do the free-range thing. It even bothers dh that I let her walk half-a-block or so ahead of her sister and me when we are out walking places together; she likes to do this because it gives her at least some sense of being independent, and he worries about her getting snatched by someone driving by.
Our inner city neighborhood is primarily composed of families like us who are honest, hardworking, and doing their best to make ends meet and do a good job raising their children. But then, never too far from the surface, there are these other people making their way illegally through activities like drug dealing and prostitution.
It's been more than a year since we had a neighbor who was an obvious drug dealer, and it's been a few months since one of our neighborhood prostitutes was trying to use our block as a place to park and do business with her johns ... so I'm not saying we see this activity all the time or even frequently. But we can never really forget that it's happening nearby.
So we still don't let our 10yo dd walk around the neighborhood by herself. We walk places together, and she plays with neighborhood friends out in their yards where we can see her. We did just get to know one family well enough that their kids started playing in our house and our girls started playing in theirs -- but they moved a couple months ago. There's a lot of moving.
As far as earning money, dd earns occasional money by babysitting her little sis for an hour or so when I'm really busy on the phone with my English lessons, or I need a little more sleep. She also earns occasional money by helping dh with tough jobs in the yard or garden. But she wants to GO OUT and earn money for herself.
She has a strong interest in sales, and has earned a few dollars selling some cylindrical shapes she made with paper and painted. She is actually a lot more interested in the sales-part than she is in developing the actual product ...
So the other day I got the idea that maybe I can take an Avon route, which I would be interested in doing for myself for the social aspect and also for earning a little side money, as well as to give dd the opportunity to gradually branch out on her own. Since we've never had an Avon lady knock on our door in the almost six years we've lived here, it seems probable that I could get our neighborhood as a route.
I realize that a lot of this is getting handled more online these days, but one unique feature of our neighborhood is that lots of folks don't have internet access, but might still enjoy the convenience of shopping from their own homes and having products delivered to their doors. I don't see it as a huge money-making venture, but mainly as a small side income and a growth experience for dd.
At the moment, dh thinks it's way too dangerous for dd and me to go out knocking on strangers' doors, even together, but he's slowly coming around ... and I'm thinking we could gradually work it out that dd might one day have our immediate block as her territory (up til that point, we could do it all together and split the profits 50/50), and maybe eventually she could take on a couple of the surrounding blocks, carrying a cell phone so she could check in with us and we could also check on her if she's gone too long.
I'd make it a policy that when she's on her own, she doesn't go into any houses unless it's someone we know well and have designated as a safe place. This is our current policy for playing in the neighborhood. She plays out front where she's easily visible, and she can knock on her friends' doors to ask if they can come out, but she doesn't go in.
I think selling Avon would also help her develop her telephone skills, as some customers would call in to give orders, and we'd also be calling some customers to let them know about sales on the products they like, and so on.
What do you think?
My compromise, though I realise how unreliable it really was, and very un-Free-Rangey, was to give him one of our walkey-talkeys. I'd check in with him halfway through, and then generally hang out out front to wait to see him round our corner. He did fine, I got truly stressed. He quit a few months later. 
and 
