50 dangerous things you should let your child do

[Miss Chicken]

This title of this thread is a title of a book. It is a book that I am tempted to buy to see how many of the things I was allowed to do and how many of them I allowed my kids to do.

the product descripton says

Fifty Dangerous Things (you should let your children do) is the first book from the people who created Tinkering School. With projects, activities, experiences, and skills ranging from "Superglue Your Fingers Together" to "Play with Fire," along with 48 other great ideas, the book is a manifesto for kids and parents alike to reclaim childhood. Easy to follow instructions, fun facts, and challenging undertakings that will engage and inspire whole households. Why Fifty Dangerous Things? First off, Five Dangerous Things just weren't enough (although the audience at TED thought it was a good starting point). More importantly, there are many "dangerous" things that are interesting, eye-opening, enlightening or just plain fun! And while there are aspects of danger in virtually everything we do, the trick is to learn how mastery actually minimizes danger. Most of us learn how to walk without toppling over at a very young age, so that walking is no longer dangerous. Next we learn to negotiate stairs. Why stop there? Why not practice and become proficient at walking on the roof or walking on a tightrope? These are just a few of the Fifty Dangerous Things that we invite you to try. Take a peek and step into a world of danger and discovery.

According to the reviews the suggestions in this book include


play with fire
drive a car
own a pocketknife
superglue your fingers together
fry a CD in the microwave
put a 9 volt battery in your mouth

Of the above six mentioned things how many did you do? I certainly played with fire, owned a pocketknife, superglued my fingers and put a 9 volt battery in my mouth.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

Drive a car when?

I played with fire, own a pocket knife, and licked a 9-volt.

I'm curious what some others are. Six just isn't enough.

 

[Miss Chicken]

That is why I have put the book on my Wish List. I want to know the other 44 things.

Edited to add - The product description gives another two

walking on the roof
walking on a tightrope

I walked on the roof of our garage but not of my house (to high and too steep for me) and I did attempt to walk on a tighterope.

One of my sons once put my neighbour's puppies on our roof. The mother dog was freaking out and my son had a lot of trouble getting the puppies back down.

 

[Zulu Romeo]

I've put one or two 9-volt batteries in my mouth when I was a kid.


It didn't do me any harm.

 

[ThankQ]

Is "Send them to Westboro Baptist Church" on that list?

Those poor kids

 

[Lindley]

Since when is licking a 9-volt dangerous? It just buzzes your tongue a bit.

 

[ThankQ]

Since when is licking a 9-volt dangerous? It just buzzes your tongue a bit.

In a good way.

 

[SeerSGB]

I licked a 9volt...still do when the smoke detector starts chirpping and I'm being cheap. Didn't faze me a bit *twitch**twitch**.

Doing stupid and/or danagerous shit that gives your parents heartattacks is part of bein a kid.

 

[The Squire of Gothos]

According to the reviews the suggestions in this book include


play with fire
drive a car
own a pocketknife
superglue your fingers together
fry a CD in the microwave
put a 9 volt battery in your mouth

Of the above six mentioned things how many did you do?

When I were a lad, we had no CDs and the microwave was a big deal, so no to that one.

I owned a pocketknife, because McGyver had one. I drove a car but only in the sense that I sat on Dad's lap and steered. I recall getting my fingers covered in glue when building model airplanes, but it just didn't seem that sticky. Either that or I didn't use enough

And yes, the 9v batteries were a little prickly.

 

[KimMH]

The fire one was fun until I set my room on fire - mom felt compelled to tell everyone within earshot about that one! (It was still fun!) No widespread damage was done and I had to live in my room for the rest of my adolescence for my troubles!

(Maybe I should say I was allowed to live in my room opposed to being relegated to the dog house!)

 

[SeerSGB]

According to the reviews the suggestions in this book include


play with fire
drive a car
own a pocketknife
superglue your fingers together
fry a CD in the microwave
put a 9 volt battery in your mouth

Of the above six mentioned things how many did you do?

When I were a lad, we had no CDs and the microwave was a big deal, so no to that one.

I owned a pocketknife, because McGyver had one. I drove a car but only in the sense that I sat on Dad's lap and steered. I recall getting my fingers covered in glue when building model airplanes, but it just didn't seem that sticky. Either that or I didn't use enough

And yes, the 9v batteries were a little prickly.

Oh man I remember when everyone in school had to have a McGyver style swiss-army knife. Plenty of desks bore the scars of bored kids sitting around carving in the tops for wont of anything better to do.

 

[John Picard]

I've let my son drive a lot. I have 10 acres, so no fear of letting him harm anything. First time I did it, he was about 8 years old and just freaking out.

 

[SeerSGB]

I've let my son drive a lot. I have 10 acres, so no fear of letting him harm anything. First time I did it, he was about 8 years old and just freaking out.

I remember being 6 years old, sitting next to my father and driving his old stickshift Ford pickup. When I got older, I was left to drive in the back field anytime I wanted so long as I was careful. The worst I did was take out the back porch. Did my folks freak out? No, they just made me fix the thing and pay for the lumber by doing extra house work.

 

[iguana_tonante]

I would add "lick dirt". Kid's immune system nowadays is weak and subject to allergies because they are not exposed to weak pathogens when they are young so they don't develop immunities.

 

[Zulu Romeo]

I was also allowed to throw full pots of paint down the stairs. It enabled me to develop a kind of sense of right and wrong.

 

[O'Dib]

are drugs on the list?

 

[farmkid]

I did everything listed except frying a CD in the microwave. CDs didn't come along until I was in high school, and I never heard of frying them until much later.

I still test 9-volt batteries with my toungue. It's just so much easier and faster than finding my multimeter.

As for driving a car, I began learning to drive at about 4-5. My father put me on a tractor to drive it across the field (VERY slowly), and I was driving to do actual work regularly by the time I was 8 or 9. By 13 or so I was driving trucks.

I carried a pocket knife because I needed it regularly.

And the fire thing--well, I'm male after all, and there is a pyromania gene on the Y chromosome.

 

[RJDiogenes]

The most dangerous thing I ever did as a kid was climb way up in high trees and on rock formations; I did fall from time to time, but somehow I managed to never break anything or kill myself.

I did play with fire a bit. Somebody showed me that after shave was flammable, so I used to draw figures on the cellar floor with it and light them.

 

[Franklin]

-- Play with fire. Check. Used to set fire to my model airplanes and a friend and I used to mix whatever flammable liquids we could find in my garage in a coffee can, set it in the back yard, and throw a match on it. We got a green flame, once. Cool.
-- Drive a car. No. But when I was 12, my dad built my a go-cart that could do 25 mph. Does that count?
-- Own a pocketknife. Check. It was a gift. Didn't really like it or use it.
-- Superglue my fingers together. Check. It was, well, fun.
-- Put a 9-volt battery on my tongue. Check. It was a rite of passage thing. Someone would do it, then pass the battery around for everyone else to try.
-- Walk on the roof. Check. Oddly enough, I rather liked getting up on the roof. Took a lawnchair up there one day. My mom had a fit.
-- Walk a tightrope. No. I mean some things are ridiculous to do.

 

[ThankQ]

I did play with fire a bit. Somebody showed me that after shave was flammable, so I used to draw figures on the cellar floor with it and light them.

Now why the fuck did you have to go and tell me that

Anyone got any Burma Shave?

(Wiki it, young ones)