Things I did as a teen but do not want my daughter to do

I remember my childhood and teenage years as the good old days. Back then, you do not really hear too much about kids (or adults) getting abducted in broad daylight or any of those sort of things. Perhaps those things did happen but not as rampant as nowadays. Therefore, my siblings and I definitely enjoyed much more freedom than kids these days will.

When it comes to my kids, especially my daughter, I think I will be much more protective of them in view of the violence and craziness that happen nowadays. I have no idea how my daughter will react when the time comes but I sure do hope that she will not rebel or start slamming doors and think that she has such an 'uncool' mother.

Here are 5 things I did when I was a teen that I do not want my daughter to follow:

1. Cycling unsupervised around the neighbourhood 
With an elder sister and 2 younger brothers, we had a great time cycling around our neighbourhood without our parents' supervision. It was such a carefree time and there were no worries at all. I started cycling when I was in primary school and there were other kids as well, all without the watchful eyes of parents. But now, even adults get kidnapped when they go jogging alone. It is so frightful, it's just not safe anymore now so my daughter can forget about cycling anywhere without me or Daddy.

2. Walking alone to the nearby coffee shop
The coffee shop near our old house was actually not that near. It took about 10 minutes for me to walk there. I was only 10 or 11 years old when I started walking to the coffee shop by myself to buy food but I was never afraid and it seemed like a very normal thing to do. As for my daughter now, I think she will have to wait till she is 18 before she can walk to the nearest coffee shop, even if it is just 5 minutes away. Even then, I will have to think about it 10 times over before allowing her to do so.

3. Walking alone to the tuition centre / school
I started walking to the tuition centre when I was 15. It was a good 15 - 20 minutes walk through a quiet residential area. It was really quiet in the middle of the day as everyone was at work and I hardly saw anyone around. I had quite a fair share of getting perverts displaying their manhood. Initially, I was afraid but after a few times, I learned to totally ignore them. Fortunately for me, those perverts did not do anything more than getting some cheap thrill. I did not let my parents know about it but I found out that many of my girl friends also had these disgusting experiences as well. So, am I going to let my daughter walk alone to the tuition centre? No, I definitely don't think so!

4. Taking public transportation
The last time that I really took the bus was almost 18 years ago. I had been followed by creepy men on a few occasions which really freaked me out. I also had a Malay uncle in a BMW who stopped his car and kept insisting that he wanted to give me a lift to wherever I was going while I was waiting for a taxi by the roadside. It was also fortunate that my friend drove by and saw the uncle bugging me. He asked the uncle what was going on and told him to go away. Who knew what would happen in such situation nowadays? Would they just grab my daughter and drive her away? I really do not want to take this risk with my daughter.

5. Staying out till wee hours in the morning
I seriously wondered how my mom handled it when I started going out till wee hours in the morning when I started college at 18. I don't think I will be able to handle it well if my daughter were to come home at 5am. My mom used to nag me till she gave up. Hopefully, my daughter won't make me go through this! I will probably have high blood pressure while waiting for her to come home or I will probably be calling her mobile phone every 15 minutes till she reaches home!

I hope that by the time my daughter reaches her teenage years, my blog will still be around and she will read this. I want her to know that I just want to keep her safe and I am not trying to be an over-protective mother. When she becomes a mother herself one day, she will know what it is like to worry over her precious ones, just like how I now know that my Mom used to worry about me too. It's not paranoia, it's just love.

What about you? What are the things you did when you were young but do not want your kids to do?