Hi Readers! Here’s a little note from a mom of three named Nina: Dear Free-Range Kids: First of all, thank you. I have been increasingly Free Range over the past 4-5 years but I didn’t have a name for it until I found this website. I am glad to know that I am not the only mother left on the planet with common sense. So, to my story. We moved into a new house about six months ago. I was explaining to my new neighbor one summer night, while the kids were playing together at the park, all about the…
Author: lskenazy
Hi Readers – As of yesterday, 50 million sets of blinds and shades are being recalled — “virtually every Roman blind and roller shade on the market,” according to this report on Good Morning America, following the deaths of five children. I cannot imagine how sad the parents of those five children must be. It’s horrible. But to frantically recall 50 million blinds — one of the largest recalls in history — strikes me as overkill. The advice given on the Good Morning America site seems to be all the information parents really need: Do not place cribs, beds and…
Hi Readers — If any of you are Free-Ranging in southwest Oklahoma (and I know you’re out there!) please drop an email to reporter Billie Hill — bhill@lawton-constitution.com . She’s looking for your stories to write about the Free-Range idea, locally. Thanks! — L
Oh I am so glad a reader named Abe sent this in. A Saturday Night Live classic: http://bit.ly/4Egetr
That, my friends, is the question I ask today in my alternate life on ParentDish.com. I am really getting sick of all the warnings about dangerous toys. On a very related note: Today there was a report about all the hideous dangers of holiday ornaments. I agree: You probably don’t want to put a hand-blown crystal ball from Bavaria in the crib next to the toy hammer. But please. The report mentions 76 Xmas-occasioned hospital visits over the course of 13 years, or about 7 a year. Maybe while we’re at it we should start issuing warnings about holidays requiring…
Hi Readers — Here’s the latest story of a guy, a camera, a warm little Santa scene at the mall…and an arrest. Apparently Scott Rensberger, an award-winning news photographer who has covered conflicts as far away as Bosnia, was at his local mall in West Virginia with the camera he always carries with him. He snapped some pix of Santa and the choir, whereupon a couple of dads insisted he delete the photos because their kids were in them, which he did. This already gets my goat. (Or reindeer, perhaps.) Why do dads think they are being “safe” and “smart”…
Hi rzeisnredt Readers — Here’s a letter I got yesterday. It hit me in the gut because this woman just went through the same process I think a lot of us go through daily: Trying to deal, calmly, with the knee-jerk response of, “That’s too dangerous!” to any suggestion that kids can do anything on their own. Read it and you’ll probably find yourselves nodding along. (Or “Grrrrrr”ing along, in my case. How very mature!) Dear Free-Range Kids: I live in Vermont. Our region is rather rural and, in general, considered “much safer” than a lot of places. Yesterday, I…
Hi Readers! Let’s give this woman some good ideas. She needs them — as do we all! Dear Free-Range Kids: My name is Shaylene Haswarey, and I want to share a story with you today. This morning, my doorbell rang, and two police officers were present. They asked me if I am the mother of my children, and I said yes. They said someone called them because my three oldest kids (ages 9, 7, and 6) were walking around our GATED town-house complex, unattended. I said, “They found a cat, and I let them go out and feed…
From a reader named Delicate Flower: “The closest my kid has ever come to losing a finger in the Maclaren was while I was trying to install the stupid hinge covers.”
Hi Readers! Even as the school board in Saratoga grudgingly allows kids to bike to middle school if they follow a bunch of rules, a bunch of kids in Orlando, Florida just decided: Let’s ride! Here’s their story and a great video of them — especially if you like Bob Dylan soundtracks. As the accompanying article says, “The bike bus isn’t something that was initiated by grown-ups; it was conceived and executed by the kids. It’s a powerful demonstration of the positive influence that young people can have on each other. Maybe they’ll influence some adults too.” Riding bikes to…