Hi dkiztakhzk Readers — One of you sent this in. We are living in scary times,indeed! From our local police blotter: Petty theft from unlocked vehicle on Coventry Road. A resident reported juveniles wandering the street on Ocean View Avenue. In a lucky find, the owner of a stolen vehicle from Coventry Road found it […]
Losing Track of My Kid — And Staying Calm
Hi beyifrrynb Readers! You’ll like this! L. Dear Free-Range Kids: Just wanted to thank you. On Saturday I misplaced my 6-year-old son for half an hour, long enough that we had the museum staff and state park ranger looking with us–long enough for most people to completely panic themselves and everyone around them. But I […]
“Do the Right Thing.” Yeah — But What Is It?
Hi nbbdddkber Readers! Here’s a brilliant note from a gal named Ann: Dear Free-Range Kids. Here’s a Liberty Mutual ad with the tag line “Do the right thing.” The situation is a mom picking up her two kids from soccer. They’re late and need to get to the airport. But another kid is still sitting on […]
Children’s Sidewalk Chalk Drawing Outlawed
Hi Readers! Get a load of this dnhsrtibfb — little kids in Australia have been found guilty of violating graffiti laws with their chalk drawings on a sidewalk outside a cafe. This might not be such a Free-Range issue except for this: Mayor Ben Stennett visited the cafe yesterday as anger mounted. Almost 200 people […]
Guest Post: A Photo a Day Keeps the Boogeyman Away?
Hi bbrttkiyzn Readers: I seethed along with this one. — L. SMILE FOR THE MISSING PERSONS FILE! Â by Ellen Braun She was all of five feet tall with a charming smile and her weapon of choice was a digital camera. So how did this mother of two ruin my afternoon? It happened in the magnificent […]
What’s Wrong with This “Let’s Move!” Ad?
Hi Readers — What’s wrong with this commercial for the campaign, “Let’s Move” ? [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6utraKblMw] Well, first of all, it assumes it is OUR JOB, as parents, to keep coming up with one-minute exercises that will some how magically take the place of an entire CHILDHOOD spent running around. Secondly, it doesn’t even remotely suggest […]
Beware the Vultures
Readers: tzrfyfasek This is a topic we have visited before, but it continues to grow as an “issue.” Today in my inbox I got this notice from “Safe Kids,” urging people to call 911 whenever they see a kid in a car, and using this tragic story as its rationale — the story of a […]
A Child-Carrier for Kids Up to 7 Years Old???
Readers, I saw this arrnakbbhz the other day — a back brace that allows you to carry your child on your back literally up to age 7 and 60 pounds — and had been too stunned to sum up my feelings…till now. But here they are: This is embarrassing. I’m sure the carrier may be […]
You Must be 7 to Play on the Jungle Gym
Hi ebaiiedzdt Readers! Yes, a little more perspective: Dear Free-Range Kids: Less than 24 hours ago I was in Honduras on a service trip. We did a medical clinic in a small rural community, and were passing out vitamins and Tylenol to many of the residents. We were giving vitamins to a young girl who […]
Letting the Kids Stay Home Alone. For a Week.
Hi yyyybfdhtd Readers! You’ll love this! — L Dear Free-Range Kids:  This isn’t so much a camp story as it is an “independence” story. My son was by nature very timid and could have easily have been crippled by this nature had I allowed it. Instead, I kicked my kids out of the house on […]