Aaaahhh, Parenthood

Yesterday I came upon a new fear of parenthood, something that was there all the time but never faced, until yesterday of course. We had hung out yesterday afternoon with some new friends in the making in our neighborhood, being exposed to a new culture and new food. They are great people and I can't wait to get to know them better. Anyway, they had also invited us over for the evening. My husband said he was going to take his bike over there (back side of the park in our neighborhood) to see if we were still on for the evening. I was upstairs when he left. I heard the door to the garage open and I came downstairs only to find my daughter. I asked where her brother was and she said he took his bike to find daddy. I looked down the street where my husband went and then toward the street that leads out of the neighborhood to lake hazel. No sign of my boy. My instincts told me to take my bike and head towards the street out of the neighborhood. Mother instincts were correct. There was my boy heading toward Lake Hazel. There is one more street in our neighborhood that crosses the street he was on before leaving the neighborhood. He was in the middle of that little intersection and a car was coming. Thankfully they weren't speeding like some people in this neighborhood, but they had to stop because my son was in the way. Oh I was so mad at him and scared! I marched his little behind home. My husband was just getting home and I had to share what happened. Now here is the funny part, the only funny part. When we got inside, I quickly noticed he had ridden his bike w/o any pants or underwear on! Classic! All he had on was his helmet (at least he put that on) and a t-shirt. Needless to say, we had a long talk w/ him why he is not to ride w/o mommy and daddy and not near any major streets. He has also been grounded from his bike for awhile. At 3 he just doesn't understand that he isn't invincible and that riding a bike has a lot of responsibility w/ it. Oh we have entered a new stage of parenthood and my stress level has just increased all the more. I often wonder how my parents did it because as a kid, danger just doesn't enter your mind.