Venting:

On the drive home from church today, Braden was being horrible. He was fighting with Eden. Then he was fighting with Brooklyn. Finally, we were in our neighborhood. We'd be home in literally, a minute, when I hear more girl crying from the back of the Suburban. He's beating on Eden. 
Two-fisted pounding. 
When I tell him we're almost home, and can't he just control himself for the next minute, he says, "I just want out of this car right now!"
So, I say, "Wonderful Idea. Maybe a nice walk will help you cool off." I pull over and drop him off. On our street. Less than a quarter mile down the quiet, secluded, no-thru traffic, street where we reside.
Ten minutes later, I've got the other kids all unloaded and am putting bread loaves in the oven (I left them to rise while we were at church.) Braden walks in the front door. I say, " You feel better now?" He says, " It's a good thing I had protection walking home." I ask, "What protection?" He says that a couple in a car saw him walking (in his suit and tie) and asked, "Where are your parents?" He told them his mom just left him to walk home. They followed him to make sure he was safe, then continued driving on their way.
I'm thinking, okay, that was neighborly of them, looking out for the kid.
Which would have been cool, if I didn't get a knock on the front door fifteen minutes later. Yep, they had called the cops. The police officer was very friendly, and said,"I've had a complaint- Well, it's not really a complaint- that a five-year-old boy (He's eight, by the way.) had been left on the side of the road, and the neighbors feared for his safety." The policeman just wanted to make sure that Braden was alright, but he could see that Braden was happily playing with his sisters, so he thought he looked no worse for wear. I told him exactly what had happened, and he said that I didn't do anything inappropriate, and told me to have a nice day.
I have to say, I walked much farther to and from school every day growing up, and I even left my street to get there. You might argue that we live in a different world these days, and it isn't safe to let kids leave the front porch unsupervised. (Even though a brief study of crime statistics will show that violent crime rates are actually lower today than they were in the ’70s and ’80s.) I agree, it is a different world. One in which it's not enough for helicopter parents to micromanage their own kids — they have to manage every other parents' kids as well. And it is dangerous to allow kids the freedom to be kids. Only the danger comes not from predators, but from busybodies. When that couple had a problem with my parenting, was it even any of their business? No. Did they talk to me directly, to find out what was going on? No. They were too afraid of confrontation to talk to me face-to-face, like adults. Instead they called the police. We've still never met, so they don't have to worry about having me not like them, but can sleep neatly in their beds tonight, comfortable in their anonymity, patting themselves on the back for having done their part to make the world a little bit better place.