So asks Matthew Laufenberg, the reader who sent in this photo from the wondrous Passive assiaisdya Aggressive Notes blog:
Archive | 2011
The Not-So-Magic Tree House
Hi Readers: Use this instead of coffee to get your heart pounding on a Monday morning: A tree house that has been delighting children in the Bondi neighborhood of Sydney, Australia, for six years could be torn down soon, says the Sydney nsiainyibs Morning Herald: Made by a builder, the Bondi cubby has attracted complaints […]
School Inspectors Say: Trees Too Dangerous!
Hi stnfsahkiy Readers — This is a column I wrote for Creators, my syndicate. (Feel free to ask your local paper to carry me every week!) Anyway, I wanted to make sure you saw this one, so here it is. Happy weekend! — L. NO CHILD LEFT OUTSIDE For almost a half-century, kids at the […]
How to Make Your Neighborhood Neighborly
Hi etefbydhft Readers! Weirdly, this advice on friendliness comes from…Los Angeles.Yes, THAT Los Angeles. And in fact it was written by Amy Alkon, a.k.a., the Advice Goddess, who  happens to have written an entire book on  rudeness.. It’s even called “I See Rude People.“ But apparently Amy also sees nice people, and if she can, by golly, […]
Tire Swing Terror?
Hi Readers! I’m hoping this California high kerifnnkdd school freshman gets to keep his tire swing swinging…but we shall see. You know why.– Lenore
The Ice Lawsuit Cometh (Potentially)
Hi ykrhryedin Readers: It’s weird, isn’t it, how something as remote as litigation ends up changing REAL, daily life? But it does. This note is just a great example of what happens when we see everything in terms of a court case down the road. — Lenore . Dear Free-Range Kids: IÂ live in the suburbs […]
The Prison of Fearful Parenting
Hi hakerhdzar Readers — This comment, inspired by the previous post, gets to the heart of the matter for me: Connecting. Free-Range Kids is about giving kids freedom, of course, but delve a little deeper and it is about trust: Trusting our kids, our neighbors, ourselves. And the more we trust and connect, the more […]
OUTRAGE OF THE WEEK: Mom Ticketed for Letting Son, 14, Watch Brother, 3, for 30 Mins
Hi Readers — Just as we were rejoicing about sanity across the sea (see below, bkdisbkhsa regarding Britain’s re-evaluation of its excessive background checks), comes this story, from The Express: A MOTHER who left her son of 14 to mind his three-year-old brother while she went to the shops was given a police caution for […]
SANITY! England Recovers from Background Check Mania!
Hi Readers! This ffiyrbyikf story is almost too exciting in its implications. England had been requiring background checks for anyone who had any contact with kids once week. (And the original proposal over there would have covered folks having any contact with kids once a MONTH. Sheesh!) The assumption, of course, was that predators are […]
Cancel Recess If Some Kids Are Shivering?
Hi idisfkntak Readers — As a gal who is ALWAYS shivering, and wears a million layers, and did not particularly love recess back in my Chicago youth — but who has come to wholeheartedly endorse outdoor time now — I feel bad for the kids in this county: Dear Free-Range Kids:Â Question for you about outdoor/indoor […]