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I received this question from a reader of my blog, www.abrahamfun.com must write in about an incident which has left my friend in a shocked state. Her little six-year-old boy, along with two of his friends, aged 5 and 4, walked out of the apartment complex on to the crowded street and were only stopped by a security guard when they were over a mile away from home and brought back. In the meantime, the parents and others were frantically looking for the boys. After the little drama, the little boy says he knows the roads and he can go by himself. He feels his mum and dad go out alone and so can he. Karen, would you please throw light on how such situations may be handled. You want your child to make his choices and follow his inner guidance but you do want him to be safe too. Please help me understand this."

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This question brought to mind (now) laughable incidents when I used to try to corral my exceedingly adventurous toddler son. Joel would find ways to escape out the back screen door by dragging a chair over to the door, climbing up, and unhooking the hook-and-eye latch. We then installed a hook-and-eye near the top of the door, so he couldn't reach it from a chair. So I was shocked one day to hear the customary banging sound of the screen door. Joel was off and running again, having grabbed a broom from the porch and used the handle to poke and release the latch.

I ran like a track star to catch up with him, for he had reached the street and was running as fast as his little legs would carry him - right down the middle! After that we installed a more secure lock on the back porch door, and then he began to figure out the front door lock! (Joel is now 28 and expecting his first child. Pay-back time! Ha.)

Joel's antics were mild, though, compared to an incident some dear friends of mine experienced with their granddaughter when she was 4. She was staying overnight at some friends' house in rural Indiana, about a mile away from her home, and woke up in the middle of the night and decided to walk home. So she did - at midnight, by herself, down the side of a busy highway! Imagine her parents' surprise when she woke them up to say she was home.

There are two important things to take away from incidents such as these: 1) Kids are natural adventurers and 2) WELL-BEING ABOUNDS.

Well-being is the absolute name of the game in this Universe, and the only way...the ONLY way...the ONLY WAY we can experience not-well-being is by focusing on danger and feeling

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