Hi Readers! I get so many fascinating stories from you,both  hopeful and horrifying, that I can’t blog about them all. BUT — I don’t want to see them go by the wayside either. So here’s a new feature: News items of the week. If you have a better name for this new feature, I clearly need it!
Of course, if you are on Twitter, you may have seen my Tweets about these pieces already. (So follow me there! Check out the widget on the upper left of this screen.) Â Anyway, dig in! – L
*Dismaying: irayszkbfk
Feature on waivers before kids can participate in birthday parties:Â http://bit.ly/Hy3lLz
*Refreshing! A mom on the Babble site sez she doesn’t let her kids play outside, adding, “Would you?” And the commenters say: Heck YES! http://bit.ly/Hd2GNC
*Thought-provoking: Essay about “Bringing up Bebe” book, and whether American parents can be as non-child-ruled as the French, without a whole society backing us up:Â http://bit.ly/H97J7S
*Told ya so: Lack of free time in nature “damaging” British kids: Â http://bbc.in/H8V5EM
Happy reading!
Wait — one more: This just in
Disturbing: Helicopter Parents Hover Over Their Children’s Love Lives:Excessively long and icky article about parents who want to be involved even in their kids’ breakups:Â http://abcn.ws/HE3htO
Beyond Disturbing: Keeping Track of Your Kids — Literally. By the esteemed Lisa Belkin — all about the different ways we can watch our kids everywhere except from beyond the grave:Â http://huff.to/HHCYp2
On a similar note:
Yesterday was Palm Sunday and at my church there’s a tradition that goes all the way back to my own preschool days of the little Sunday School kids leading a processional into the church waving palm branches and singing. They had always used either artificial plastic palm fronds or real ones if someone had some to donate and seeing the little ones waving their branches was always a highlight. Well, this year I waited eagerly for my three year old daughter to come in with her class and in they came waving………green paper streamers?
When I picked her up later I asked the teachers what had happened to the palm branches. I’m sure you can guess the answer. Yep, didn’t want anyone to get poked in the eye. Feeling just a little naughty, I feigned shock and asked who had gotten poked in the eye last year. Anyone want to guess again? You’ve got it, no one got poked in the eye last year, no one has ever been poked in the eye in the last 35 or so years that the church has been doing it. Yep, someone MIGHT get poked in the eye. Sigh.
how about “Our regular dose of (in)Sanity”
About the French child rearing… I grew up in Belgium, but had my child in Australia. When I take my daughter to go visit the Belgian rellies and friends, my absolute most favourite place in the world to go is a big playground that I used to go to as a child. It is not fenced, in a nice park with lots of trees and – this is the best bit – there is a big outdoor cafe/restaurant/pub. And that is the only place the parents set foot after they send their kids off to go play with the instruction to only come back if they need first aid or a sip of their drink. The parents even drink ALCOHOL! They are even allowed to SMOKE! And they can eat proper food. I spent days at that playground chatting to my friends without having to worry about bored kids. I enjoy all the bits about being a parent to some degree, but that was the best time I have ever had as a parent. And my daughter fondly remembers it as some of the best times she ever had as a child too!
And I meant to say, what a contrast with playgrounds here, where parents indeed follow their kids around, often used to help my toddler without her or my permission and would never, ever drink a beer or sip of wine or – god forbid – smoke within sight of a playground because that would make you the most awful, selfish, neglectful parent ever.
Always interesting, Lenore. Here’s another one (if you haven’t already noted) last week from NPR just in time for Easter… “Easter Egg Hunt Canceled Due to Aggressive Parents (http://www.npr.org/2012/03/26/149379355/easter-egg-hunt-canceled-due-to-aggressive-parents?sc=tw).
Thanks for keep us up on newsie items! Here’s hoping I/we can see beyond the absurdity, steer clear of the frenzy and stop the madness in my own home – knowing I’m not alone in my efforts.
The title for this feature that immediately came to mind was “The Fear Follies” since most of the tweets are about things that play to parental fears. I’m sure I could come up with something better if given a chance to wake up more and actually think about it.
linvo,
When we lived in Germany, there was a grocery store there that I loved…but I couldn’t figure out the little room at the front. Turns out your kid could STAY there while you shopped!!! No adult supervision, but there was a TV and toys. My son LOOOVVED shopping at that store and SO did I!!
I miss Europe sometimes. 🙂
How about “From the (not-so-free) Range”? Or just “Reports from the Range”?
Reblogged this on Just Another Blog by Jen and commented:
The crazy of American parents never ceases to amaze me. Than you, Lenore for bringing some sanity back to parenting.