Branching out

As you know, I am all for children spreading their wings, testing their strength, pushing the boundaries. So long as an adult is around to pick up the pieces if it all goes pear shaped, maybe give a little advice, a  pointer in the right direction, kids can go far.

Today, Abi went far, literally and figuratively.

She and a friend walked into town and shopped for England. No adults to say no to the tacky clip-on earrings or the jumbo sized gob-stoppers. They came back through the park, stopped to feed the ducks and then walked up the hill and home. She went at least two miles away from me but a million miles in terms of independence.

She took my mobile phone and used it twice to let me know all was well, the first time to say they were on their way back and the second to say they would be longer than I expected because they were feeding the ducks. I resisted ringing her - just!

Another milestone reached and passed with flying colours on both sides. Of course, the next problem will be that she wants to go every weekend and how am I going to finance that?!