America has gone Child Abuse Hotline crazy: 7.8 million kids get reported to child protective service each year — and 7.1 M turn out to be fine. That’s a lot of extra calls! Why so many? Onlookers can mistake Free-Range parenting for neglect, but they mistake poverty for neglect, too: A child looks “too young” to be running an errand. A child is dressed “wrong” for the cold. A child is coming home with a latchkey. Free-Range Parenting Laws like Utah’s — what we now call “Reasonable Childhood Independence” laws at Let Grow — would curb this. Read the…
Author: lskenazy
Is it a waste of time when kids look like they’re wasting time? Interesting question. I write this while looking out my window watching a couple of kids playing with a toy car. Before that, two other kids were chasing a dog. I’m sure a lot of older kids are inside on their phones. And here I am, online. (As are you!) Is there a difference between wasting time and spending time doing something kind of enjoyable that is mindless or unproductive? Is all time wasted if there’s nothing to show for it? That’s what I’m thinking about in my…
A professor friend reviewed my new podcast, “Supervision Not Required.” Click here for the podcast. And here’s the review! Funny, wise, reassuring. What a great podcast from Let Grow advocate Lenore Skenazy and developmental psychologist and play researcher Peter Gray. Being a parent today is exhausting. From the time our kids are born, we are told that we have to be actively engaged with them every minute, because if they don’t hear us say twenty million words by the time they are five or whatever, then they will be scarred for life. We (parents) feel like anything that makes our…
Let Grow has compiled a great resource: The simple rules for 20 classic backyard games, including: Duck Duck Goose Red Light, Green Light Mother May I? Blindman’s Bluff Leapfrog And, obviously, another 15 more. Click here for the rules and even some videos that will bring these games back to life! Photo by Jo Naylor
How can you get your kids to stop whiiiiiiiiiiiining? Let Grow has some truly workable, real-world tips from a mom of two whining (or, I guess, previously whining) toddlers. The article is really honest and fun. Best idea? When the kids are CALM tell them that, henceforth, you’re going to ignore their whining. “When children whine, any kind of response, negative or positive, is attention. By not engaging, you take away any kind of reward. Click here for the rest of the basic, straightforward ideas.
Find a way to make art outside. Recycle something old into something new you can use. Pick up litter. Explore the woods. These ideas are pretty basic, but you and/or your kid might not think of them all — and many more — when your kid is bored and you are not keen to be the entertainment center. (And maybe you don’t want the entertainment center to be the entertainment center either.) So click here to get Let Grow’s free Summer Ideas Kit.
Today is launch day for “Supervision Not Required,” my first podcast, and my first guest is Dr. Peter Gray. He says we have to let kids play WITHOUT us around. In other words, we have to let them take risks, solve problems, and argue (as well as have fun), even though we know they may get a little hurt. The alternative — safe, efficient, adult-organized “play” — can be enjoyable, but it cannot give kids the skills they need to deal with life and each other. Here’s where to listen and subscribe! Click here to listen and subscribe on Spotify.…
Kids looking for something to do? Worse, are they looking at YOU when they’re looking for something to do? Give them Let Grow’s summer calendar of activities and ideas. We’ve even got some free postcards for them. Find it all by clicking right here!
How did dad get demoted to doofus when it comes to telling jokes? I ponder that today, for obvious reasons. Click here to read and Happy Father’s Day! Photo by Humphrey Muleba on Unsplash
“The Aggressive Life” sounds like an aggressive podcast, and it is — but about aggressively living a meaningful life. I loved my deep discussion with Brian Tome, bestselling author of “The Five Marks of a Man” and pastor at Crossroads Church, one of the fastest growing churches in the U.S.. Here’s the podcast!