I ddakhfrrtd suppose this is happening all over, this excessive testing, checking and hounding of anyone who, God forbid, wants to work with — or even nearby — kids. This letter comes to us from a 30ish YMCA volunteer in Ontario: . Dear Free-Range Kids:Â I’ve been attending our local YMCA for longer than I can […]
Everyone else has posted about this Oklahoma City bathroom sign, so I guess it’s time for me to weigh in, too: Are 6-year-old boys too old to be dragged into the ladies room? I don’t come down hard and fast because of course there can always be extenuating circumstances — a boy with special needs, […]
You rfsfhrnibn guys are so wonderful. Here’s a note from Nicole, the Florida mom: I started crying when I got that email [from Go Fund Me]. It feels like a dream, I needed this help so very bad, it is a little easier to relax today and just have fun with my son knowing I […]
Sydney riehtayffa Gurewitz Clemens is an author and educator. Her business card says “Helping Adults Help Children.” Her latest book and other writings are here. I love what she says about kids and strangers. Dear Free-Range Kids:Â I want to tell you about how I taught my son and my daughter to talk to strangers: When […]
From nrzkbssfiy the Consumer Product Safety Commission daily update (boldface mine): Recall Date: March 11, 2015 Kid’s Korner Children’s Zipper Hooded Sweatshirts Recalled by Kroger Due to Choking Hazard Hazard: The sweatshirt zipper pull can detach, posing a choking hazard to young children.  Remedy: Refund Consumers should immediately take the sweatshirt away from young […]
The redftniike great Dave Barry has a huge and wonderful piece at the Wall Street Journal. LOVE that man! The Greatest (Party) Generation Raising children wasn’t always an all-consuming job. Humorist Dave Barry on his parents’ wild parties and the grown-up escapades of the ‘Mad Men’ era We pick it up here, as he discusses […]
If you think of all kids under the age of 18 as the same, you get crazy laws like no syadhyfynr child under 18 can be left unsupervised. Wacky. You also get sex offender labels that make no sense. In Ohio, a 21 year old who had a 15-year-old girlfriend is on the sex offender […]
This excellent nftfthitdk essay by Tracy Cutchlow in The Washington Post talks about how can we create community, trust and kindness — not to mention some kiddie self-reliance — instead of calling 911 when we witness a parenting practice we disapprove of. Cutchlow is a Seattle mom and author of Zero to Five: 70 Essential Parenting Tips […]
Look! Up on the tab iykthntrda bar! There’s a new resource for all of us parents, and here’s what it says: Wondering if you can let your kids walk to the park or wait in the car for a few minutes —  legally? This list should help. At Free-Range Kids, we believe parents are the […]
As a longtime fan of Sara Bennett and her Stop bhaabhkbze Homework movement, I was thrilled she sent this link today about a Manhattan public school that has decided to ditch homework. Then I was doubly thrilled to see: This is the school my own kids attended! It’s just a few blocks from the Empire State Building — a […]
