Alas, readers, not my own atntzfiffy interview with him. But Reason.TV caught up with Doctorow outside of some pub in London and asked him about many things, including his books (my older son LOVED “Little Brother”) and  boingboing (a site that brought early attention to this blog), and,  most saliently for us:  “The War on […]
Archive | Germs
Pacifier Aggression
Hi isabaeetez Readers — Boy, your letters keep blowing me away. Here’s another one that made me think — and fume. Â It reminds me of a great essay by Spiked Online contributor Nancy McDermott (Spiked is sort of Britain’s Slate) about how this generation of parents treats every childrearing decision as a Nobel-worthy research project. […]
Guess What? Purell Doesn’t Work
Hi Readers:  Time to quit pickling our kids in Purell. That’s not just MY conclusion, or even just the conclusion of Slate writer Darshak Sanghavi in this tzbzhknbny TERRIFIC piece, “How To Sell Germ Warfare.” No, it’s the conclusion of scientists who were surprised that giving free hand sanitizers (and, in one case, even Clorox Wipes) […]
Worse Than “Baby on Board!”
Hi Readers! Excuse me while I gag. Amazing how one eazbzfzzfk sign can make everyone who passes this stroller feel big, dirty, disgusting, diseased and depressed. Remember those “Baby on Board!” signs, that made it seem as if people who were seriously considering crashing into a car would reconsider upon realizing it was carrying someone […]
Outrage of the Week: Science Fair Bans Most Science
Hi Folks! Here’s zbiiirstez the latest — a brilliant Chinese plot to crush America’s lead in science and technology! Oh wait. Seems it is just one Colorado school’s list of  science fair rules. Thanks, reader Bree, for sending it in. The list: For safety: Project displays and posters may NOT contain any of the following: NO: Organisms […]
Go Easy on the Anti-Microbial Soap, Says New Study
Hi Readers! I know, I know — there are probably another zillion studies that contradict this one, and there’s a danger in being whipsawed by every new “discovery” but as this one SO dovetails with the Free-Range outlook, who could resist? Voila: THINK kiaffthrdn AGAIN ABUOT KEEPING THE LITTLE ONES SO SQUEAKY CLEAN RESEARCH SUGGESTS […]
Kids Need Dirt. For Real! For their HEALTH!
Hi Readers — A bunch of you have been digging (har har) this sathebktzf story about how much protection our kids get from DIRT. This explains my philosophy of housekeeping! Er…I mean: This explains my philosophy of childrearing. Anyway, here’s a bit of the article, by Murrray Wardrop,  in The Telegraph. (For some reason this story got […]
Oh, Please!
I hate hand sanitizers, but are kids really DRINKING them? Or setting them ON FIRE?? Or are we just coming up with more bizarre ztbhaznter worries? (Yes, I know. Another rhetorical question. Did I mention we just MOVED? Hard to blog and unpack! ) — Lenore
New Law to “Protect” Kids from Germs Would Kill Band Program
Hi Readers — Get ready to start gnashing. A bill in Massachusetts would require all schools there to “professionally” sterlize their band isntruments, according to this knnftiydny article in the Wicked Local Sumerville (great name!). And guess what? Only one company in Massachusetts does this. The owner of that company, a dentist, insists that without this […]
Just When You Thought it Was Safe to Play on the Lawn…
Hi Free-Rangers: Here’s a brand new fear to leave you with for the weekend: kbdfakdnhh “Raccoon Latrines Pose Risk to Kids.” A new risk? OMG! Lock up the kids! Reader Lorie McGraw found this article explaining — in great detail — how these “latrines,†found all over suburbia, get filled with…what you’d expect. (Put down […]