OTT

I knew this woman was protective. She has never left her son at a
birthday party on his own. She won't let him go on school field trips
unless she's along. She wouldn't let him go to camp without her being
there. When my son invited her son over, I was frankly surprised that
she allowed him to ride here on the bus.

Still, when DS wanted to go outside and play, I didn't expect SF
(son's friend) to say that he couldn't! He said he wasn't allowed to
go outside unless I came with them. Understand that these boys are
third graders, not pre-schoolers! When I asked him why, he said,
Because I might get eaten by a bear or a wild dog."

toypup...

Do you have bears and wild hogs there?

bizby40...

That's dog, not hog. Yes, there have been bears in the neighborhood.

toypup...

LOL. The typo works. Wild hogs are certainly would be a site.

Yes, there have been bears in the neighborhood.

I think the last sighting was almost two years ago. Generally if they
come, they come at night, or just at dawn to raid the trashcans.
There has never been an incident involving one.

No wild dogs, just the occasional escaped pet.

Nan...

He actually said that?!? I feel sorry for him with such an over
protective mom!

When she called to make sure he'd gotten there safely (you knew she
would, didn't you?), I asked about it, and she said, "Well, it's all
right as long as you can see them." Um, no. I can't see them when
they're outside.

Oh, well.

Tori M...

Ugh.. in 3rd grade? I let the kids play outside alone at my MIL's.. low
trafic road with lots of field.. more chance of Bears and wild dogs but from
what I understand they usualy come out at night:P

D. Plum...

These parents often get over it by the times their kids hit 8th grade
or so. Mothers go back to work or are just burned out on all the
cooking and cleaning.

bizby40...

This woman actually works already. Luckily her mom does not, so is
able to watch the kids after school. But other than that you are
right, at some point she'll get over it. In the meantime, I just have
to shake my head in wonder....

toypup...

Not all of them. My mom got worse as my brother got older, my mom got
worse. When he went to the library, she didn't trust that he was going
there, so she secretly followed him. It wasn't good enough when she saw
that he was actually at the library, she had to follow him in to see what he
was doing there. If he went to the beach with the high school club to clean
it up, she demanded that he call her every hour or something like that. He
didn't have a cell phone at the time. She would get incredibly upset with
him when he didn't do it exactly as she demanded. He called, but not every
hour, because it just wasn't easy to do. She listened in on all his phone
calls. It wasn't a very easy life for him to lead but he moved a few states
away as soon as he could and was somewhat independent for awhile.

Rosalie B....

It sounds as though your mom was psychotic. If he got through that
without going bonkers, then he's a better human than I am.

bizby40...

That sounds like a tough life for your brother to live. It sounds
though, as though she didn't trust *him* specifically to do what he
said he was going to do. Do you know if he ever did anything to give
her that impression? I'm guessing not, or you would have said.

This woman, well, I don't know. She doesn't generally check up on him
exactly -- that is, I think she trusts that he's a good kid and will
do what he should. She just tries to control his environment to the
point where nothing bad could ever possibly happen to him.

Rosalie B....

What will happen when she fails, and something does happen? Would she
go off the deep end?

bizby40...

It's a possibility. Which scares me a bit now that you mention it.
Maybe I shouldn't have him over anymore.

D. Plum...

Wow - that's creepy. The smothering mother is an archetype in any case
- hardly something new. All one could do would be to run away or be
subsumed, I guess. Eek.