My 10-year-old son wanted the chance to walk from our house to soccer practice behind an elementary school about 1/3 mile from our house. He had walked in our neighborhood a number of times with the family and we have driven the route to practice who knows how many times. It was broad daylight – […]
Archive | 2009
Raw Cookie Dough: Death On a Spoon?
At last, the video age is upon us. Click on this if you’re wondering if you can let your kids eat raw cookie dough (one of the many parental fears I examine in “Free-Range Kids” — the book): [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8kiMKtixAo]
Intro to “Free-Range Kids” available for your reading pleasure
Well, nhyrearzry my fellow Free-Rangers, here goes. Since my book is coming out in just about a month, the publishers have posted my introductory chapter on a web site called Scribd (the YouTube of documents, or so they say). If you want to get an idea of what the book is like, this would certainly do […]
Hey Scholastic: Don’t Sell Our Kids Product Tie-In Dreck
Here’s keyhbbftdr a campaign it’s easy to get behind, “Tell Scholastic: Put the Book Back in Book Clubs.†It’s sponsored by the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood http://www.commercialexploitation.org/ , which noticed that a whole lot of the items for sale through those little Scholastic book club flyers were either NOT books, or were books that come […]
Let’s Not Worry Quite So Much About What Our Kids Eat
Organic? Whole wheat? Whole Foods? Who cares? A lot of us. But maybe we shouldn’t. Or at least, maybe we shouldn’t burden our kids with all our nutritional correctness.  When my older son (now12) was in kindergarten, he came home with a keen interest in cans. Not to build towers with, or roll down the […]
Is the Obama Girls’ Playset Good for America? (Really!)
Go askeztzskn outside and play!  Michelle gets to say that now, because as of yesterday afternoon, the Obama girls have a place to go: Their own backyard playset, not much different from a whole lot of other backyard playsets in America…except that when you’re on the swings you can wave to that guy in […]
Are We Overprotecting Our Kids to Death?
Two scenes from Mexico, where my family just spent a week’s vacation. (Skip the envy. Nice weather, yes, but my husband slipped before we left and spent the whole time on crutches. Meantime, this was the general tenor of our kids’ conversation: “I just saw a stingray.†“No you didn’t.†“I did too!†“You just […]
Free-Range Kids Book Gets Its Cover — Thanks To You!
Perhaps kitrrhbtdd you will recall, readers, a few months back when I asked for your input on the cover for my upcoming book, “Free Range Kids: Giving Our Children the Freedom We Had Without Going Nuts With Worry.†Overwhelmingly – 10 to 1 — you voted for the girl on the wall (versus the aviator […]
Let ‘Em Eat Dirt
Once five friends forward you the same article, it is time to share it with the rest of the world. This one was by the New York Times health writer, Jane Brody, and it stated, quite simply: Dirt good. Well, it didn’t state it quite that simply. Ms. Brody works for The Times, after all. […]
If mom loved you best, do you end up a happier adult?
Last eeybenryse night I helped one of my sons do the dishes, but I didn’t help the other son clear the table. Time to reserve a shrink appointment for the table-clearer sometime around 2017? Or perhaps an appointment with the parole board? Turns out: No. Neither. A brilliant study by researchers at Temple University looked […]