Dear Readers: There will be a quiz at the end of this post — a letter just in from a reader. (I actually read it on the subway!) Dear Free-Range Kids: It’s 70 degrees here in sunny Florida, so I opened all my windows and blinds. My 8-year-old daughter and 6-year-old son came home from school and wanted to play in the front yard on the tree swing. OF COURSE I obliged because it was so beautiful out, how could I say no?!? My 18-month-old cried because brother and sissy were home and she wanted to play. So I…
Author: lskenazy
Dear Readers: Cracked! That’s what the folks are over in Britain where one of the BBC’s kiddie programs (created for children with special needs but a big fave with all the under-fives, apparently), is teaching the kids that Humpty Dumpty did indeed sit on the wall. And he did have a great fall. BUT all the kings horses and all the kings men somehow “Made Humpty happy again.” And not in tasty omelette form! Good God, are we SO AFRAID for our children that we think they will be traumatized by hearing of an egg that broke? Are they going…
Hi Folks — On Friday I wrote a piece based on a blog by a mom who said the TSA took her baby son while frisking her — and him, I guess. I said it sounded like the mom was hysterical and the TSA employees were rude. The TSA then released a video of the incident which certainly makes it look as if the baby was never taken from the mom. It also looks like they did make the mom wait longer than necessary to be re-frisked. In other words: It sort of seems like the mom was hysterical, and…
More bake sale news. This time, a goodbye to all homemade treats at a Long Island school — complete with a farewell cake. Maybe instead of selling cupcakes, kids in afterschool clubs can sell their blood? — Lenore
Hi Readers — Here’s a great article from Parade Magazine by the Freakonomics folks, all about how we fear the wrong things. Allow us to quote one particularly salient paragraph (or two, actually): There are any number of topics about which our fears run far out of proportion to reality. For instance, whom are you more afraid of: strangers or people you know? While “strangers” is the obvious answer, it’s probably wrong. Three out of four murder victims knew their assailants; about seven of 10 rape victims knew theirs. While the public is justifiably horrified when a stranger snatches a…
Hi Readers — It’s hard to believe, but the rest of the world is not exactly like America except with different condiments at McDonald’s. Here’s a note from far away: Dear Free-Range Kids: We have definitely tried to embrace as much of the Free-Rangeness as possible into our kids’ life. One twist we have is that our children are both Type1 diabetic, which makes us a bit overprotective to begin with (how do you feel, are you feeling low, tell us before you eat, yadda yadda yadda). Our family recently moved to Germany for a work opportunity. Our kids are…
Folks, this is one of those stories where I am appalled by both sides and, for good measure, by a lot of the reactions, too. Long story short: A mom went through airport security with her baby. The baby’s pacifier clip set off the alarm. But rather than just saying , “These things happen,” and re-sending the clip through the metal detector, the TSA folks put mom and kid in some sort of holding pen. After quite some time (while mom understandably worried that she might miss her flight) the TSA people proceeded to take the baby away for several…
Hi Readers: Yes, one of two kids who streaked at his local high school football game could now be required to register as a sex offender. Same list you’d find Jaycee Dugard’s rapist on. But, hey, it’s only for 10 years! Only 10 years of not being allowed to live near a school or park. Only 10 years of being turned down for most jobs. Only 10 years of being seen by anyone checking the Sex Offender Registry as a guy who regularly goes around exposing himself to minors. These registry rules are as ridiculous and inflexible as the…
Hi Readers — Here’s a comment that got me thinking. Dear Free-Range Kids: My sons came home from school the other day with a letter informing parents that there would a Healthy Eating talk given to all groups. This comes less than a month after a talk on the dangers of sexually transmitted diseases that was given to the older kids in the school. Now don’t get me wrong. I am not against either of these or any other similar education program. I did, however, think back to when I was at school and I could not think of…
This ad isn’t new, but I just have to say: It is repulsive. Repulsive in that it reinforces the belief that if you do so much as to turn around for a sec to get something out of the stroller, your child could be abducted. Repulsive in that, in order to sell batteries, Duracell is happy to subscribe to the notion that children are in peril every second of every day, even when they are at the park with their moms. And repulsive that BrickHouse Security is only too happy to scare the wits out of parents to peddle a…