Hey — is this sanity I see appearing in the comments on this post?A mom screams at the ice cream man to bug off and folks weigh in sounding like…us! Feeling kind of positive! — L Well, maybe THIS guy is a little creepy, but in general…
Author: lskenazy
Readers — Here are two recent gems from my mailbox. I hope you can take a deep breath and summon the courage needed to face these gigantic problems. Try to be strong! – L. Hi Lenore, Hope all is well! I wanted to send along a story idea that’d be great for your readers. [Really? MY readers?] As the school year winds down and kids get ready for summer vacation, it’s important for parents to know how they can help them re-adjust their schedules to accommodate the lazy days of longer sunlight, hot temperatures and staying up late. [Yes, how…
Hi Readers! If you are not one of the 44 million folks who have already seen this video, enjoy! If you are ARE one of the 44 mill, enjoy again! – L.
Folks, this is a long essay, but one I’m proud to share, as I continue to believe the Sex Offender Registry is not keeping kids any safer, and yet it is ruining a lot of lives. It comes to us from Shana Rowan, executive director of USA FAIR, Inc. (USA Families Advocating an Intelligent Registry), a nonprofit group founded by family members of people required to register. As Shana says, “USA FAIR promotes intelligent, fact-based sex offender laws and shines a light on the collateral damage imposed on loved ones of registrants.” A noble goal. – L. MY ABUSER,…
Hi Readers! This comes to us from a gal named Deborah who apparently gets as worked up by a story as I usually do! Nice not to be the only one! – L. Dear Free-Range Kids: I’m not sure that this is one article you want to deal with the comments on (!), but the verbiage of it struck me: Falling toilet seats: Rare but growing risk for boys It isn’t the article so much as how it’s reported…a few examples: “It’s a toddler basically potty training who doesn’t have the most advanced motor skills and they just don’t have…
Readers — I’m in Bulgaria, running on caffeine and excitement (and feta cheese), but even so, I don’t think it’s my hopped up status that is making me feel dizzy after reading this article. I think it’s the parents of the kids in question. Here’s how WHAM13, an ABC channel, reports the incident: Clyde, N.Y. — A Wayne County man is now facing four charges for Endangering the Welfare of a Child after he interrupted an act of vandalism at a home he was renovating for his father-in-law. The incident unfolded around 9 p.m. Saturday when Jesse Daniels said he…
Hi Readers! Remember the horrifying 2011 case of a mom convicted of vehicular homicide after her son ran into the street and was hit by a drunk driver? (Who was NOT charged with homicide?) She was facing a possible three years’ jail time. As I wrote at the time: In brief: An Atlanta mom and her three kids got off a bus stop that is across a busy highway from her home. She COULD have dragged everyone to the next light, three tenths of a mile up the road, but it seemed to make sense to try to cross. Not…
Hi Readers — This insightful note comes to us from reader/commenter Linda Wightman, who says she is “passionate about ‘small’ in the big things of life: birth, education, parenting, homemaking, health, church, conservation, farming, business and more. Except for families, where large is good: seven Free-Range grandchildren and counting!” She blogs about all this and more at Lift Up Your Hearts! . And meantime, from me, hi from Bulgaria! – L Dear Free-Range Kids: Hey, worst-first thinking has a psychological category all its own! Look at this excerpt from Difficult Personalities by Helen McGrath and Hazel…
Hi Readers and greetings from Csopbanka, Hungary, a town of 3000 outside of Budapest, where I am staying with a friend I haven’t seen in (ahem) a couple of decades: Erno Gyori, and his family. We met way on a train going from Paris to Istanbul — same route as the Orient Express — except really cheap. I was traveling solo, and at the time (don’t do the math) Eastern Europe was still Communist, so it was kind of cool for folks on this side of the Iron Curtain to meet a young woman from the other side. And…
Hi (from Vienna!) readers: This ad is so sane, so Free-Range, it’s making me a little suspicious.Why is an insurance company reminding us about the importance of taking small risks? Is it to make us less lawsuit-happy when something bad happens? Or to get us to buy insurance? (“A car can crash…”) Or maybe Allstate’s ad agency has been reading this blog? Hmmm. – L.