The author started tracking her with AirTags.
Courtesy of the author
My oldest is 8 and super responsible, so I've started giving him a bit more independence. Things like riding his bike to one of the two parks within a block of our house or staying home alone for a few minutes while I go to a neighbor's house.But giving him more freedom also comes with more anxiety on my part. As a mom, I've struggled with not knowing exactly where he was enjoying his new independence without me. Since we're anti-devices for kids under 16, I figured out a new way to track him — a small AirTag placed in an inconspicuous spot on his bike.As expected, it didn't take him long to find it, and when he did, he was irate. "You don't trust me!" he'd yelled, incensed and embarrassed. Then I realized something: while knowing his location helped alleviate my anxiety, it undercut his newfound freedom. Here's what I learned from this experience, and how I'd do things differently next time.It undermined trustSince he was a responsible kid, I had always given him a bit more freedom than a normal 7 or 8-year-old. I could tell him to come back in 15 minutes for dinner or to leave for practice, and nine times out of 10 he would show up, right on time. He usually made good decisions, always looked before he crossed the street, and knew not to talk to strange adults.He had earned my trust with a history of good decision-making, and tracking him without his permission had damaged that hard-earned trust.I let anxiety winYears ago, I read Kim Brooks' "Small Animals: Parenthood in the Age of Fear," and without being dramatic, it totally changed my view on parenting.
