Merry Christmas to everyone who’s celebrating, and a Happy New Year to all! I appreciate the Bible passage that a commenter sent here, below. It reminds us that throughout history, parents have lost track of their kids from time to time. What’s more, often a child only discovers his true interest — even his calling — when left to his own devices. (Or hers, of course.) (Or His.) Meantime, special wishes to Maria Hasankolli, who is still facing criminal charges for sleeping through a morning that her son got himself ready for school and started walking there on his own.…
Author: lskenazy
Michelle Millet lives in Davis, CA with her husband, two kids and…some bikes: Riding to School All On Their Own by Michelle Millet In August, with my daughter entering sixth grade and my son entering third, I decided this would be the year my kids started to make the 2-mile bike ride from our house to their elementary school, all on their own. A neighbor, learning about my plan, asked if his 5th grade daughter could ride with them. Great, I said, and we made plans for the kids to meet on the bike path at 8 a.m. every day.…
Remember the Mantra of Our Times: If it happened once to anyone, anywhere you should start worrying about it now! As WLKY reports: LOUISVILLE, Ky. —Nearly two weeks ago, Audree Kopp was in the middle of moving into her new home. In the midst of the chaos, she noticed a growing bump on her wrist. “It just kept getting bigger and redder and worse,” said Kopp. Kopp went to her doctor, who gave her antibiotics. But the bump continued to grow. So she went to the hospital and underwent emergency surgery. “They said I needed surgery, and thank God…
Just watched this video and now am realizing: We are out of Kleenex at my place. Hope you’ve got some! The piece is titled, “Kids face hard Christmas choice: Gift for me or gift for mom?” – L . . .
This great idea comes to us from Emily Adams, whose insights and emails I am always grateful for. Please add your own headlines! Dear Lenore: Maybe Free-Range Kids could expand, and do a newspaper/news show/Internet blog with boring (but true) “news” articles about people who make the Free-Range decision for themselves and/or their kids, or kids in their care, with no ill effect, and sometimes positive results. For example: -“Kids Walk to School, Get Fresh Air, Exercise, Basic Navigation Skills” -“Brownie Troop Makes S’mores the Real Way, A Good Time is Had By All, and the Kids Learn Fire…
Here’s a fascinating note from fascinating Lia Grimanis, a feisty Canadian who makes things happen. She has been homeless, she is listed as one of Canada’s 100 Most Powerful Women, and she founded an organization called Up With Women, helping homeless women and children rebuild their lives. As if that isn’t enough, she also describes herself as a “flat-footed asthmatic gym class flunkie turned Guinness World Record holding truck and jet puller.” Lia writes that, “My mom was one of the most amazing Free-Range moms around. Because I was precocious, she let me go off and do what I wanted…
A New Jersey mom is facing charges for leaving her kids, 8 and 10, in the car while she ran an errand. As it happens,while she was doing the shopping, a man hopped into the SUV, which was still running, and drove off with the kids. He crashed the thing, and everyone ended up bruised but okay. Except the mom, who is being treated as if she’s a criminal, too. Possibly that’s because of the nature of her errand: She was at a liquor store, at night. But! 1 – There’s no evidence she was going to drink and drive.…
Remember the mom put on Illinois Child Abuse Registry for letting her kids, 11, 9 and 5, play at the park outside her window? The state’s Appellate Court has thrown out the “child neglect citation” against her, after her mere two and half year fight against the Department of Child and Family Services. She was helped by the scrappy, brilliant Family Defense Center in Chicago. As Bonnie Miller Rubin in the Chicago Tribune Reports: “I’m just relieved this is over,”‘ said Natasha Felix, a 27-year-old single mother…”I knew that I didn’t do anything wrong.” In July 2013, the three children…
Well, I sure feel safer now! This snapshot of American hysteria comes to us Lisa Lightner, a special education advocate, lobbyist and blogger who can be found at ADayInOurShoes.com. Dear Free-Range Kids: I have my child abuse/background clearances to volunteer at my son’s school (1st grade). Next Friday I am signed up to be the Mystery Reader–to visit the class and read a book. I specifically chose that date with the intent of having my mother-in-law go with me, because she is in town visiting from Arizona. . Our school used to have a policy that even if you do…
Here’s my theory: One reason parents/teachers/adults are spending so much time hovering over kids is that they are spending so much time hovering over kids. What I mean is: It’s a vicious circle. (Or cycle. Never figured that out.) Anyway, when we spend a lot of time watching our kids, inevitably we will see how often they do something dumb, mean, or slightly dangerous. Which makes us feel we have to watch them even more. But if we WEREN’T spending so much time scrutinizing them — if we gave them decent dollop of old-fashioned, unsupervised time — we would see…