Haha! Thanks Aksar. I'm not so sure everyone would agree with you but I'll take the compliment with thanks and a big nod to my parents, and theirs.

My mom and I talked today about the not-so frozen creek incident tonight, and she said that she had to just hold her breath sometimes and be thankful she decided to become a nurse. :-) She said that their theory was to weigh the risks I wanted to take and ask themselves:

What's the worst that could happen?
How likely is that to happen?
How bad would it be if that happened?
What can we do to avoid that happening?
What's the plan if that does happen?

Slowly, sometimes painfully, I learned that decision-making process for myself. ("Heck, you made it out of that creek, so you must have learned something!" Says my mom. FYI - my dad and grandpa were SAR that day, thanks to my cousin who went back to the farm to get them.) I'm not always great at it, and it's way harder to do as a parent, but I always fall back to EDUCATE. EDUCATE. EDUCATE. Turn fear into knowledge and then decide. When it comes down to it, there are basically three choices: say no, try it right along with them, or close my eyes and hold my breath.

Personally, I try to avoid no until I've hashed through all the other questions and I'm certain that it's absolutely necessary. Of course, I also keep my first aid training and emerg plans current too.