And now, a new feature I think we’ll call the Liability Chronicles, chronicling the way insurance, lawsuits, lawyers and the fear of all three are changing the world. Starting with winter. We are the first generation of hominids to be scared to have normal winter fun. – L. Dear Free-Range Kids: Our local ski resort, Ski Granby Ranch, used to have this amazing sled hill which anybody of all ages could use. My husband and I would take our son there all the time over the winter. Well, this year they got rid of it, and here’s the response when…
Author: lskenazy
Ah, readers, here’s a wild story of a busybody gone batty: Seeing a toddler left alone in a running car, some nut stole the car AND baby because he was “upset” with the dad for leaving the kid alone. But as the reader who sent this story to me, Michele, dryly noted: “It seems to me that the only person the child was in danger from was the guy who took him as a ‘lesson.'” The story is here. And while I don’t like the idea of a car with keys AND a kid in it, the dad most certainly…
Hey Readers — This came in as a comment to the post below this one, about a mom named Tara who wants to be Free-Range, but can’t help dark, scary thoughts taking over brain. It’s a reminder that even though we cannot protect our kids from everything bad, we can still move beyond the Rapunzel Option. – L. Dear Free-Range Kids: My only advice to Tara would be to prepare her children to be survivors instead of victims. No one has a crystal ball or any guarantees that nothing will happen to our children. The proverbial lightning…
Hi Folks! I don’t think this mom is the only one out there with this issue. – L. Dear Free-Range Kids: I’m writing to you in the hope of some Free-Range Kids help. Help in what way, I don’t know. Some words of wisdom? You see I’m starting to doubt my free range kids thinking. I think I’m starting to give in to the media’s portrayal of an unsafe world out there for our kids. Even as I write that I don’t really believe that. I don’t want to believe it. But I’ve just read 2 (more) dreadful stories…
Hi Readers! Here’s a word about stranger danger, from reader Regina Long: Dear Free-Range Kids: Last night I was leaving the YMCA with 3 of my children when I noticed a mom behind me carrying a baby and accompanied by a little girl of about 5, so I stopped and held the first lobby door for them. I also stopped to hold the second door for them when the 5-year-old burst ahead and started running towards the very busy parking lot just a foot away. Instinctively I put my hand on the front of her to stop here from going…
Oh readers, I bet you of all people can guess WHY a hazmat crew was dispatched to Seminole High School in Florida yesterday. According to this dnzhnytiba WTSP report, it was to save kids from a dangerous chemical a student brought into the building: MERCURY! In a THERMOMETER! The kid brought it in as his homework, to illustrate a substance from the periodic table. But once it was discovered, says WTSP: …the school went into lockdown. Deputies say the thermometer was discovered as the substances were checked before going through the school. No one was put in harm’s way, but…
Hi Folks! Here’s another essay by David Bond, the British filmmaker working on Project Wild Thing, a documentary about trying to market nature. I think he’s really onto something with the idea of fighting fire with fire — or at least salesmanship with salesmanship. Except nature doesn’t have a marketing budget. — L. Me — The Barrier, by David Bond When I ask my children why they would rather watch TV than go outside, they say television is more fun. But what is fun for a 3 and a 5-year-old? Their tastes are hugely influenced by mine. They emulate me,…
Hi Folks! Just a quickie: The kids in this Michigan story, 12 and 15, walked to the library on their own. When it was time to go, the temperature had fallen and, according to this article, “library staff” would not allow them to walk home. So they called their mom to come get them. She was busy at their grandmother’s and said no. Next thing you know: The children were taken to Farmington Hills Police headquarters at 11 Mile and Orchard Lake Roads. The officer spoke to their mother, who said she was upset that the children called for a…
Hi Folks! This provocative piece on a topic I hadn’t encountered before comes to us from Elizabeth Ely. She blogs at Kitchen Sink Included, where she tells stories, preserves memories, and shares opinions that she simply can’t keep to herself. Like this one! – L. KEEP THE U.N. OUT OF PARENTING by Elizabeth Ely Why should Free-Range parents have any interest in a United Nations Convention treaty currently up for ratification before the U.S. Senate? I’ll give you a short answer: Because the treaty would make government, rather than parents, the ultimate authority on what constitute the “best interests” of…
Readers — Here’s a fun little weekend story. Yes, I realize it’s from The Daily Mail, but it does seem like it actually happened: A young man buying some microwave pudding in an English supermarket set off some sort of alarm at the checkout station. What happened next, according to the fellow, was: ‘The woman who was monitoring the self-service checkouts came over and asked me for identification showing I was 18. I asked her why and was stunned when she told me: “It gets hot when you cook it — and you may burn yourself”. Surely the same can…