Hi Readers! This is so inspirational — Britain’s National Trust has come up with a list of 50 things kids should do before they’re 12. These include take a look inside a tree, watch the sun come up, go sledding, make a mud pie… Many of them sound great, a few sound impossible unless you’re living in the outback. But the rationale behind them all makes a ton of sense: We tend to think of childhood “enrichment” as something involving classes and museums (and car rides and money). But free time, exploring and doing things YOURSELF are enriching, too. Which…
Author: lskenazy
Hi Readers! Get a load of this lovely piece by Time Magazine’s Bonnie Rochman! And don’t forget: The holiday is this Saturday! Take your kids (age 7 and up) the local park at around 10 in the morning and hopefully a lot of other kids will be gathering, too. Then leave! Details in that great Time Magazine piece. Now if only they’d put a photo of me on the cover with a breast exposed… Or maybe not. — L.
…Via this fantastic commercial. Actually, I’d never heard of the advertiser before — it’s Halfords, which, according to its Twitter feed, is the U.K.’s “leading retailer of automotive, leisure and cycling products.” It also seems to be a leader in supporting Free-Range Kids! (And, okay, nostalgia. But it’s legit!) Let’s hope seeing all the fun that kids can have outside, on their own, reminds everyone to celebrate Saturday’s holiday: TAKE OUR CHILDREN TO THE PARK…AND LEAVE THEM THERE DAY! Spread the word![youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qrCRPnqlms]
Hi Folks! Here’s an update on today’s story about the five seniors suspended from Indiana’s Cascade High School for decorating it, at night, with Post-It Notes. Now a whopping 67 students have been suspended, because they were protesting the suspension of the Cascade Five. As you can hear in the TV report — presented by the stations “Crime Beat” reporter (making you wonder what exactly constitutes crime in Indiana) — the kids who did the “prank” got permission from a school board member and the head custodian. And even if they didn’t, I agree with one of the commenters on…
Hi Readers — So here’s the story: Five high school seniors in Indiana went into their school after hours, when it was officially off-limits, and decorated it with 10,000 Post-It notes. They used the notes to create a big, cheery “2012” on the gym floor, for instance. They made bright patterns on the doors, and another big “2012” on some windows. And for this, they were suspended for two days (during finals) and the janitor who supervised them got fired. What kills me most, though, is how the superintendent described the event: “It was just Post-It notes: no damage, thank…
Hi Folks — Just on a run of “good news” stories. Here’s another! — L (who was something of a rockhound in her youth, too!) Dear Free-Range Kids: Re: ‘the stranger” who offered kids donuts… one of the most awesome memories I have is being taken into a dark room by a “stranger” — wait for it — he was a science teacher who was traveling across the southwest during his summer break collecting mineral samples, as an amateur geologist. He wanted to show me and my sister and brother how different minerals fluoresce under ultra-violet light, but in the…
Hi Readers! This is from a mom named Becky S: Dear Free-Range Kids: When my sons were 5 and 2 my husband went to Iraq for a year with his Reserve unit. My family lived about 400 miles away from our home and I used to take the boys to visit quite regularly. The first time we went without Daddy, they didn’t want to go in the ladies’ room with me, “Because we’re MEN, mommy!” So I let them go. They’ve been visiting the men’s room by themselves ever since (almost 10 years now). Nothing bad ever happened to them.…
Hi Readers! You’d think that, after a certain point, I would be inured to cultural confoundedness. (Or at least know how to write a sentence in English.) But in fact it is still amazing to me how wild the public imagination has become and how eager it is to imagine the most extremely unlikely, horrifying scenarios. It really is mass psychosis. And here’s just another instance of it, from Hannah Zuniga, a reader who describes herself as a Common Sense Mom. – L. . Dear Free-Range Kids: I received my first verbal hand slap regarding my child raising. I have…
Hi Folks! Here’s a guest essay from Lisa Baker, who’s trying to be a Free-Range Mom to two kids in Atlanta, Georgia. She writes about her parenting adventures at Organic Baby Atlanta. Enjoy! L. Warning: Toddler at Play by Lisa Baker In the Yequana tribes of South America, parents let toddlers wander near open campfires, playing with knives. In Romania (where I lived for a year), mothers send toddlers alone to the corner store to buy bread and cheese for breakfast. Me? I let my toddler play in the yard. Oh, I know it’s a risk. I wouldn’t have let…
Hi Readers! Happy Mother’s Day to moms of all stripes! If you want to read my sentiments about our parenting-as-a-spectator sport, they are here. Now go enjoy some burnt-but-lovingly-made toast! — L