Hi eazttbtsks Readers — Just a little day brightener from the Free-Range Front. L. Dear Free-Range Kids — I have a parenting theory: I never do for a child what that child can do for himself. For the past few months I’ve given my three-year-old daughter my library card and stood a few feet behind […]
Advice for Worriers
Hi Readers! Jeffrey Goldberg penned this pretty darn perfect bit of advice in a column called, “What’s nnnszzasni Your Problem?” in the current issue of The Atlantic. Here’s the question: Ever since our first child was born, I have slept very poorly. When I close my eyes, my mind becomes crowded with worries. I worry […]
Not Letting Scary Myths Go Un-busted
Hi dtizndsssr Readers: Here are some excerpts from a discussion going on — the kind of discussion we can all undertake, when we come face to face with the safety “advice” Â that only makes people more scared. Â The tips that begin this exchange (vastly edited down, by me) were posted on a PTA list serve […]
A Very Heartening Note!
Hi zzfzkssrtd Readers! Remember this story — about the mom whose neighbors called the police because they saw her three children playing outside, unattended? That sort of epitomized my fears for our country: Busybodies AND the authorities meddling in normal  childhood, as if it’s too dangerous. This new note from the mom gives me great […]
Zero Tolerance for a Good Kid
Hi Readers: This bfinsziiss one will make your blood boil even if it’s freezing outside. It’s about a North Carolina high school senior suspended for a paring knife found in her lunchbox, which, for the record, was actually her dad’s identical lunchbox that she brought to school by mistake. (Dad pares his apples at lunch, […]
The “Stranger” at the Mall
Hi kydfrfdndn Readers: Just got this note. Read on! Dear Free-Range Kids: I swear, I could just cry at the stranger-danger hysteria these days. I have the good fortune to be self-employed. As such, I can work whenever and wherever I want, so today I chose to work at the mall. (I know, right?) Did a […]
No More Playing in the Dark, Kids
Hi Readers — Another day, another lawsuit, another childhood institution crushed. In this bfhtzrkdti case, back in 2001 a Scout troop in England was playing a game where everyone had to grab a block from a pile in the middle of the room. Get there last and there’s no block left for you. Sounds like […]
There’s No Place Like Outside for the Holidays
Hi izatbrresd Readers — As a week of no school looms, here are some ideas for outdoor fun from Heidi Ahrens, a Colorado mom of two very active Free-Range girls. Heidi runs the website and social network community OutdoorBabyNetwork. You may also find traces of Heidi on NYC streets where she once played. Me? I love […]
Lenore’s Carols
Hi Readers: We interrupt this well-focused blog to bring you my Year ykteshhfti in Carols. I write ’em every year — can’t help myself. Sing ’em, share ’em, post ’em on YouTube if you can’ keep a tune. (I can’t!) We’ll be back to Free-Range issues very soon. But meantime: Enjoy! — L. THE YEAR […]
Because Crawling is Just Too Hard
Hi Readers — When I go around giving my Free-Range Kids lectures, at some point I hold up a pair of little knit things that look like mini sweat bands and I ask the audience, “What are these?” And when I finally inform them, “Baby knee pads,” they shriek in disbelief. (At least, the ones […]