Hi Readers — I don’t pretend that these parents are anything other than off-the-charts weird. But they do give a glimpse at the furthest reaches of helicopter-dom, in that they sent their daughter off to college but continued to drop in on her unannounced — despite the 600 miles that should have separated them — even as they monitored her every phone call and email, electronically. It’s as if they were on the trail of a crime, and in a way, they were. She’s guilty of growing up! In this case, the parents sought to have their seemingly normal, talented daughter…
Author: lskenazy
Hi Readers — A few posts back, I asked you to send in the changes, if any, your schools were making in the wake of Sandy Hook. This one is the strangest. – L Dear Free-Range Kids: I heard from a friend today who went to her first grader’s holiday concert. Not only were they required to sign in, but they had to turn in their car keys in the office! What the heck? What on earth did that accomplish except a huge headache for the admins working in the office? What the heck is all I can say about…
Hi Readers! Normally I write about how we should avoid Worst-First Thinking — thinking up the WORST case scenario FIRST and proceeding as if it’s likely to happen, immediately. But in this case, I was wrong! Look at what happened to this reader’s family just last night! Dear Free-Range Kids: There’s a jolly stranger sneaking in my house tonight… my kids talked to him and now he’s coming here! I am so sorry I even suggested that it is EVER safe for a child to speak to a stranger. I can only hope the guy leaves quickly and that your kids…
Hi Folks! Here are some thoughts, culled from your comments, that resonated for me. – L. My sympathies go out to the parents and families. I cannot imagine what they must be going through. On the other hand, I have heard as much as I want to hear about it. Evil exists in this world and insensitive as it sounds, talking endlessly about this event is not going to shine any light on why it happened. Shhh…I feel the same way. I even worry that focusing so much on it does the opposite of shine a light. It creates darkness:…
Hi Folks! This cartoon comes to us from Russia, which apparently has some similar issues to the United States, when it comes to authorities deciding whether parents are “good” enough. Small world! – L. Knock knock.
Hi Readers — Believe it or not, this isn’t even a post about Sandy Hook. It’s about Tony Hawks and a photo he posted of himself skateboarding as he swung his 4-year-old daughter, who was not wearing a helmet. I believe in helmets. I love them. I make my kids wear them. But I do not believe that seeing one Instagram pic of Tony with his un-helmeted daughter is a huge problem (the way, for instance, ABC News does). In fact, to hope and pray for a day when every image we see in any medium is safety-tested, doctor-approved, drug-free,…
Hi Readers — I found myself nodding along with almost every word of this post, by Jennifer Murch, a homeschooling mom of four on five acres near Harrisonburg, VA. You can find more of her musings and lots of recipes at her blog, Mama’s Minutia. – L Self-Care I first started writing this post in my head while I was working in the kitchen with my little boy. He was painstakingly cutting out leftover gingerbread dough. He had flour smudges on his cheek and forehead. His nose was snuffly. His pants were falling down. My little boy is six, the…
Readers — This is PRECISELY and I mean PRECISELY what I feared might happen, post Sandy. First of all, there is the way we are almost ENCOURAGED to believe that if some children are hurt, somewhere, sometime, now all children are in danger, everywhere, all the time. Second, there is the ease with which some folks in power are ready to exchange age-old humanity for the inhumanity of pseudo-safety. And finally: Ugh. Who wants to show up anyplace where the door is slammed in your face as if you are a psychopath till proven otherwise…by your access code? – L.…
Hi Readers — My friend Nancy McDermott, a columnist at Spiked-Online, wrote this to me the other day. It was not apropos of the Sandy Hook shooting, just apropos of being alive, being a parent, and being a realist, which means (believe it or not) being grateful. – L. My son turned 10 the other day and got out of bed late on the night of his birthday and tearfully asked me what is the point of living if we’re just going to die in the end. (He’s a very old soul.) So I held him and told him because…
Hi Readers! Wondering what’s happening at your local schools, vis a vis more security. My older son’s high school is conducting a lockdown drill today, my younger son’s principal emailed home a comforting note but did not discuss any new procedures. One reader wrote: Dear Free-Range Kids: I’m wondering if anyone has contacted or is getting ready to contact their school/district about NOT implementing more security measures in light of Newtown? Our elementary school has been handling things fairly well in my opinion, but in response to (apparently) repeated questions, the principal sent out a message this afternoon saying that…