Hi Readers: Or rather, a belated HELLO! I am so sorry I totally missed alerting us all to World Hello Day on the 21st– a day when we are all exhorted to greet 10 different people. This reminds them and ourselves that most people are pretty good, and that talking beats fighting. Also that everyone is better off when we are greeting each other, rather than, say, sneering or snorting or staring with ill-concealed suspicion. So why not make this long Thanksgiving weekend a Hello Weekend? And yes, that means even saying a kindly hello to the folks you see…
Author: lskenazy
Hi Readers! Well, it’s not that I want to see MORE Worst-First thinking out there. I’m just looking for examples of it — examples of incidents when people, confronted by normal behavior (like the kindergarteners in the post below this one) AUTOMATICALLY interpret it in the WORST way FIRST. E.g, “This is perverted!” rather than, “This is probably quite normal.” The most salient example I have of this I may have already told you about. A young man at a grocery store passed a mom and a kid in an aisle and waved at the child. Nice. He happened upon…
Hi Readers — Got this note and had to vent. I am SO SICK of everyone thinking of everything in terms of perversion. It is a perverted way to think!! Here goes. — L. Dear Free-Range Kids: This isn’t strictly a Free-Range issue perhaps, but it illustrates the nonsensical trend of treating inappropriate but harmless behavior with fear and suspicion. The following is a quote from the training module that every parent who wishes to volunteer at our school must endure, even simply to serve cupcakes to a class. The policy of requiring training and background checks on all…
To be filed under: Coming To, What the World Is:
Hi Readers — Those clever folks at KaBoom, the playground people, have created a “virtual funeral” for the swingsets of West Virginia’s Cabell County. The sets died an unnatural death, after a painful lawsuit brought by the parents of a boy who broke his arm jumping off a swing. In a response worthy of Greek tragedy, the county responded by murdering all its swings. They will be missed. — L. Pictured here: A child in hideous danger.
Hi Readers — I’m sorry to say, this is happening in MY town, New York City: Seven chess players have to appear in court for playing the game of kings on the stone chess tables close to a playground — a playground where adults are forbidden unless they are accompanied by a child. Because, of course, any human anywhere NEAR a child who isn’t personally taking care of one MUST be a monstrosity. Except these particular monstrosities quietly play chess together. Have for years. They even teach the local kids how to play. Terrifying! Oh wise authorities: What makes a…
Hey Readers: Here’s an odd story of a Texas mom who took her 2-year-old son fishing, early in the morn, with her boyfriend. The mom decided it was too cold, and put the boy back in the car while she went to retrieve the gear. In that window of time, a guy came, stole the car, drove off with it, ran a red light and turned around — after realizing there was a kid in the back seat! The mom yelled at him. He yelled at the mom: “Why’d you leave a kid in there?” He fled, cops came and…
Or really, just public bathroom stories. That’s what I’m looking for, readers. As I start pondering the idea of writing another book (and, more to the point, FILLING it), I’m going to be asking for anecdotes from the real world, from YOU. And what I need first, believe it or not, is bathroom lore! Specifically: Can you tell me about the time you let your kid use a public bathroom WITHOUT you? Was it a big deal? A small one? Scary? Surprising? Wonderful? (Or at least as wonderful as something like that can be?) What age? Moreover: Kid reaction? Onlooker…
Hi Readers — Here’s another plea from a Free-Ranger trapped in a helicoptering vise. Do you have any suggestions that have worked at your school? Please share them! — L. Dear Free-Range Kids: Something terrible has happened at our school. I wrote to you a while ago about how wonderfully free our village kids are. Things are changing….. and not for the better. My children are 7 and 9. I live 1 mile from school, and our route takes us through a nature reserve, so no traffic and no road crossings necessary. I have been taking baby steps…
Dear Readers: Yup, I’m envious, of this mom, her kid, her country: Dear Free-Range Kids: I don’t know what to say really. I’ve just found your blog and I’m astonished with the stories I’ve read. They’d be a lot of fun — if they were not so scary. My point of view is a bit different as I live in Northern Europe where we have not yet realized how dangerous the world really is. I’ve raised a Free-Range Kid without having heard anything about the concept. I guess that’s how we roll, up here in the North. My…