I let my 10-year-old twins roam free with no supervision on vacation. The week had a huge effect on them.

Courtesy of Alesandra Dubin

These days, many parents favor a hands-on, highly supervised, and tightly scheduled parenting style. However, unlike some of my peers, I'm not much of a helicopter parent. My twins, now 10 years old, have been lucky to grow up in our flat, friendly area of urban Los Angeles, where they enjoy the freedom to pop into neighbors' houses unannounced and unsupervised.