How much freedom did you have as a child?

[Schrödinger's Name]

Most people think about freedom as 'being allowed to do whatever the hell you want'. By that definition, I did have a lot of freedom. At my dad's place I was close friends with two neighbor kids (siblings). We'd go to the forest at the end of the street, by ourselves to catch frogs and that kind of stuff (we were 5-8). I reckon my dad let me do that kind of stuff since I was very cautious as a kid. We never did 'extreme' things that could get us into trouble. In philosophy this is referred to as 'negative liberty'; 'having freedom from'. On the other side we have positive liberty; 'capacity to'.

I'd say I did have much negative liberty but not enough positive liberty. I wish my parents had put more effort in making me explore the world. When I was six I wanted a guitar par example. My mother got me one but guess what... I wasn't able to do anything with it since it didn't occur to her that maybe it'd be a good idea to send me to music classes. So much for being 'free'. (I remember my ex-stepdad once saying something about this. It's possible that they suggested music classes but that I was too socially anxious to attend them.)