Nadine Silverthorne

I'm trying very hard not to let my own fears dictate how I raise my children. There are a lot of fun things I missed out on in life due to being too afraid to try.

My husband is the opposite (of course, because opposites attract). He starts out with the belief that everything will be OK, whereas I start out with the belief that everything will be terrible (a cultural trait that most Armenians have, in order to avoid disappointment should things go awry).

Recently, a wonderful, new family moved up the street. They have two boys, aged five and eight, and are often seen playing in front of their house with their 10 year-old next door neighbour (a girl). Though there are parents present, they seem to go in and out of the house a lot, so sometimes the play is unsupervised. It's a busy city street and although there are speed bumps to deter people from bypassing the major road's traffic, most drivers ignore them and fly down at high speeds.

My son is so excited at the thought of coming home to new friends that we can't even turn down our street without Nate attempting to undo his car seat buckles. I completely understand. I grew up in a townhouse cul de sac where kids played outside all day and the mothers watched from kitchen windows. But our street wasn't open to traffic and almost every house had a mom who was home.

Nate keeps wanting to go up the street to see his new friends. My husband thinks that's OK. I'm not ready to leave Nate in the care of another family (are we imposing? Is it safe?) that I don't know very well yet.

This isn't the world we grew up in. While books may tell us it's safer to be a child today, I still feel that 4.5 is too young to be outdoors without a guardian. I want him to have fun and I'm happy he has these amazing friends, but his independence is freaking me out.

The overwhelming consensus on Twitter was that Nate is too young. Here's some of what our Tweeps had to say:

@doudoubebe: too young - too small to be seen by vehicles, too easily distracted. For short periods maybe if he's a very cautious kid.

@NicoleWahl: I have a 4.5 yo,too--I wouldn't do it. Just don't think they have the judgment or impulse control yet--not consistently.

@karengreeners: too young! Lord almighty, too young! A fenced in backyard is one thing... a downtown t.o. street, another.

@CdnFanGurl: too young for me. I don't let my 5.5 year old play without parental supervision on our cul de sac.

@PartyMomma: MUCH too young. The world is not what it was when he was a boy. It's always ok until something goes wrong.

What do you think? At what age would you let your child play outside unsupervised?