ambit -- Mom

am·bit  (mbt) n. 1. An external boundary; a circuit. 2. Sphere or scope. See Synonyms at range. [Latin ambitus, from past participle of ambre, to go around; see ambient.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published byHoughton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

As I remember it, Mom let us do things when we were growing up as long as they were within the ambit of our neighborhood.