The Irresistible Onion: “Kid Ready to Start Playdating Again”

Oh Readers — Who can resist the temptation to quote from America’s Finest News Source? Not me. So here goes. To read the perfect article in its delightful entirety (complete with mom trying to set the boy up),  click tzkieeeyta here! — L. TAMPA, FL—Despite having been hurt more times than he can count, local […]

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Bad News! Courts Are Rewarding “Intensive Parenting”

Hi Readers — This is so disturbing. Two professors studying family law have written a paper saying that “intensive parenting” is becoming the norm that judges expect good parents to practice. As Walter Olson explains on his blog, Overlawyered, derzfnihtt “Gaia Bernstein (Seton Hall) and Zvi Triger (College of Management School of Law, Israel) say custody […]

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Guest Post: How to Get Kids Outside & Exploring Again

Hi dfsktystye Readers — Here’s a note and a plug from a Free-Ranger across the pond  who has come up with a new way to lure kids outside. His name is Daniel Raven-Ellison, he lives in London and he’s a “geography activist.” As such he’s a founding member of The Geography Collective — a partnership of […]

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And Now For Something Completely Different —

Hey Readers — It’s summer, and I’m re-reading, as I do every summer, my very favorite book: “She’s detzisyshn So Funny: 1,768 of the Best Jokes from Women Comedians,” edited by Judy Brown (who seems to have done a lot of funny books). I have actually gone through and checked off my favorites, and — […]

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Interview with Author/Blogger/Parent Cory Doctorow

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 […]

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Guest Posts: Why I Didn't Help A Lost Girl (And Troubled Boy)

Guest Posts: Why I Didn’t Help A Lost Girl (And Troubled Boy)

Hi rfdhdiehkr Readers — I got both these letters today and felt that together they make the point: We must start letting men know we TRUST them around kids. Thinking the “worst first” of all males is not only insulting, it is damaging the fabric of our society, pulling men away from their age-old jobs […]

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Why Is This Thing in Every Preschool?

Why Is This Thing in Every Preschool?

Hi Readers — This guest post really got to me. Maybe because I’m an American Studies major from way back, I love thinking about what our modern day artifacts say about our culture and psyche. Today’s author, Mary O’Connell, is the director of LifeWays, an early childhood center in Milwaukee, and she noticed a new […]

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Guest Post: Stranger Danger Stupidity

Hi Readers — I think a lot of us have been in “stranger danger” situations like the one described by Renee Jacobson, a teacher for 20 years, below. Her blog is called “Lessons assakrteyd from Teachers and Twits,” and it’s a twit that she learned this particular lesson from. — Lenore HEY LADY: I AM […]

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A Man in Uniform (Is Trusted. Otherwise — Forget It)

Hi ihbikztzts Readers — Here’s a letter from a 22-year-old paramedic in Queensland, Australia, where folks, too, seem to suffer from the modern-day problem I call “Worst-first thinking.” What I mean is: When an adult and a child interact, onlookers often assume the worst, first. Like so — Lenore Dear Free-Range Kids: So, it was a […]

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