My son, 14 (almost 15), has a dentist appointment tomorrow. It is in the middle of the day which means he will have to leave school and return when the appointment is finished. The dentist’s office is about ½ mile from my son’s school. I took the entire day off from work, figuring I could take him to his appointment then spend the rest of the day packing and moving. (Our move is taking WAY TOO LONG because we only have a small pickup truck and I am the only one who drives.)

Anyway, my husband thinks I am babying my son. He thinks he should WALK to his appointment. I think I should take him, especially since our former dentist retired and my son has never even met the new guy. However, he does not mind imposing on me to take him to HIS appointments-some of which he could walk to.

When my daughter was in her junior and senior years of HS I let her take the closest school bus to the dentist’s office and then she would either stay with a friend until I could pick her up or walk home (about 1.5 miles). The difference is she was older, her appointments were AFTER school and she was familiar with the dentist.

Am I being overprotective? I know a lot of you have teenage children, so I value your opinion.