A mom in Albuquerque had her 12-year-old and their dog wait in the car, sun roof open, while she hit the gym for half an hour. The gym manager called the cops to report a “child” and dog locked in the car, and the police came zooming. The fact that the “child” is 12 didn’t matter to the cops. The fact that he told them he normally reads or naps during these waits doesn’t seem to have mattered either. Apparently the cops took the mom to jail, and apparently she was kept there for two days, because KOB reports she…
Author: lskenazy
Happy Birthday to the woman who gave us Henry Huggins, Ramona, Beezus, the Mouse and the Motorcycle (my God, how I loved that book), and three generations’ worth of joy. As you might guess, Cleary grew up with what sounds like lots of freedom, and chores, since she lived on a farm in rural Oregon. She also didn’t read till third grade. Got that? Did not read till third grade. She loved stories — her mother read aloud each night to her father and her (no one had TVs!). But words on a page didn’t mean much until she picked…
I figured I’d get your weekly dose of head-exploding insanity out of the way on Monday. Then we can talk about other ideas the rest of the week: Dear Free-Range Kids: I’m contacting you because I need a voice of reason in the insanity that are the local mothers in Columbus, Ohio. Recently, a mother was at the play place at the local mall when she felt that a man was following her. She then states that he was taking photos of her and her child but disguising said photos as “selfies.” I’ve copied and pasted her entire account of…
Saw this “ad” at the US Play Coalition Conference where I was speaking last week. I couldn’t wait to hear Justin Bogardus’ session, “Does Nature Have a Marketing Problem?” Maybe you’ve already seen his hilarious answer: And here’s the next one. Now go outside! L.
The principal of an elementary school in Magnolia, TX, has forbidden parents from picking up their kids to walk them home. No matter how close the children live to the school, they are required to take the bus or be picked up by car, Fox 26 in Houston is reporting. If not, the local authorities are ready to enforce the rule with arrests for trespassing. The ostensible reason for this step at Bear Branch Elementary is “safety.” It always is, right? What I couldn’t glean from the story is whether kids are allowed to leave the school, by foot, without…
A South Carolina mom who let her 9-year-old nephew walk her 3-year-old son to the McDonald’s less than a quarter mile away has been — I’m sure you can finish this sentence in your sleep by now — arrested and charged with child neglect. The reason? According to WSPA News 7: . The officer says the boys had to cross a street and pass several businesses and homes to get to the eatery, putting their safety at risk. Oh if only the kids had passed something less inherently dangerous than a home! Or business! The mom, Tiesha Mesha Hillstock,…
This story is everywhere today. As CBS News reports: A 9-year-old reporter who wrote about a suspected murder in her small Pennsylvania town is defending herself after some locals lashed out about a young girl covering violent crimes. Hilde Kate Lysiak got a tip Saturday afternoon about something untoward happening on 9th street in Selinsgrove, about 150 miles northwest of Philadelphia. She went to the scene to get the details and posted a story and video clip on her website the “Orange Street News” later that day. “Hi, Hilde Kate Lysiak here reporting from the Orange Street News on the…
As you know, I’m no fan of on worst-first thinking — thinking about the worst case scenario first and proceeding as if it’s likely to happen. Turns out neither is Juliette Kayyem, even though serious, intensive, worst-firsting has sort of been her job. Kayyem was Assistant Secretary for Intergovernmental Affairs in the United States Department of Homeland Security. She also served as co-Director of Harvard’s Long-Term Legal Strategy for Combating Terrorism, and held other positions at that university. On WGBH and other media, she’s the Security Mom. Now she’s got a book out: Security Mom: An Unclassified Guide to Protecting…
This dad cannot be the only person out there who wonders how much a baby can handle in terms of dirt and bumps: Dear Free-Range Kids: Please direct to where I can find research, or better yet, documentaries about what minor risks that you don’t need to worry about with infants — like if they hit their head while playing with a chair, or touch a slipper or an unvacuumed floor. My frustrated son is counting on you. My wife is overprotective but it’s just because she is misguided. Like a lot of people, she thinks that you need to…
Check out the brilliance of these British kids. According to the Daily Mail: Aged between six and 12, they were on an Easter egg hunt in the middle of a field near the village of Capel, Surrey, when they spotted the helicopter circling. I highly doubt I would have been nearly as resourceful as these “Tremendous 12,” as they’ve been dubbed by the press: Describing what happened next, one of them, a nine-year-old girl, said: ‘It was really noisy and we could see it said “police” on the bottom. Then we saw a man running along the side of the…