Hi seytekkfez Folks! This lovely photo and note come to us from Paul Beard, who describes himself as growing up a Free-Range Kid “before we knew what it was.” He now lives with his wife and two high school kids in Seattle, where he “involuntarily retired from Internet technology to become COO/GM of domestic affairs, […]
Hi kyaakhiesi Folks! Below is just one part of a great, fun essay called “Parenting the Way Your Great Grandmother Would.” It’s by Margaret Ables, a comedy writer who has written for Celebrity Death Match and It’s a Big, Big World. She blogs at shortfatdictator.com (Facebook) and has appeared on ‘Steve Harvey’ discussing parenting/ family issues. She lives in L.A. […]
Folks, when I posted the letter sbdsfbaksd from the dad whose 6-year-old was picked up by the police — and DETAINED — for walking solo in her neighborhood, one of you said that stories like this make you worried to let your kids go outside. Which is exactly the opposite reaction I was hoping for. I […]
Hi nezhhtirtd Folks! Here’s a question that resonated for me — and an answer that did, too. Both appeared in recent comments. – L. Dear Free-Range Kids: Having killed time on my pm commute reading the comments on the Seattle blog about local schools going on lockdown due to a thief in the neighborhood (don’t […]
Hi zzyrhebysf Folks — This comes to us from a mom in Israel named Sorcha! Maybe your kids can have a weekend like hers! – L . Dear Free-Range Kids; I have 3 boys (10,7, 3) and since finding your blog a couple of years ago have been consciously trying to follow the Free-Range philosophy. Admittedly, this […]
Readers fbbnzebtea — Just another note from the frontlines of our freaking-out country! Got this yesterday: Â . Dear Free-Range Kids: I found this story, currently going on in my greater neighborhood as I type this, incredibly alarmist. A little background: I live in a nice, average neighborhood in Seattle. We have a neighborhood blog […]
Dateline: Montreal — and talk about scary: A middle-aged woman was seen offering a 13-year-old girl a lift. But wait! It gets worse. Possibly hznsbbazda the SAME woman also recently offered a ride to a 10-year-old.  Can you believe it? How brazen! As if she’s just some nice lady and it’s cold outside!  She didn’t drag […]
Hi kaintdshbr Readers! Here’s a letter about a homemade camp started by two moms that just may inspire you — Â the same way THEY got inspired last year, thanks to ideas being spread by Mike Lanza of Playborhood. (Here’s a cool post by him of how he turned his front yard into a neighborhood hangout.) […]
Hi khbyibeits Readers — This is from an article by Tim Gill in The Guardian last week. Tim is a friend, an activist, a blogger and author of No Fear, a book examining what it means to grow up in a completely risk averse society. In the article I’m quoting from, he’s talking about how there’s […]
Hi ahrfysyanr Readers! This is from the blog, “Free-Range Kids in Film,” by Michael Alves. How I remember this commercial! — L. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KlNAYCcxgUw&feature=youtube_gdata_player] “Anthony†Prince Pasta commercial. Not sure when this was filmed, but it seems like it is the late 60s or early 70s. It shows a school-age boy, Anthony, running home through the streets […]
