Hi akreidaiki Readers! Here’s a lovely story from reader Deborah Halliday Mills. Remember it when you find yourself between a rock, a hard place, a child and a stranger! — L Dear Free-Range Kids: I have always prided myself on being a common sense parent. I don’t follow “experts,â€or the latest trends or pop culture. I […]
Hi Reeders! Just read about a new camp in Austin, Texas. It’s for teens who want to get around the city by public bus. That’s the whole camp. Teens. Getting around the city. By bus. They consult a map, pay their fare and go someplace. fedienastb According to TV station KXAN, a mom named Sheila […]
Dear fyeyyzafif Readers: One of you dreamed this up and I lost your name!. Claim it if it’s yours! Meantime, maybe everyone can enjoy — or even organize — something like this for the local kids to get to know the nabe and each other! Neighborhood Scavenger Hunt A tree with pink flowers A black […]
Hi zyhkhsdizs Readers! Here’s a note I got from one of you right before “Take Our Children to the Park…And Leave Them There Day,” last Saturday, May 21: Dear Free-Range Kids: We’re doing it as a communal group, with about 9 kids thus far from my various friends. We’re even letting them ride their bikes […]
Hi neiehedekn Readers! Here’s a piece I wrote for my syndicated column: Coming up this Saturday is holiday you didn’t celebrate as a child, because you didn’t have to. You just got up, ate breakfast and sped off to the park. No big deal. Except it is now. Around the country, the parks are empty. […]
Hi Readers! Stan Cox, author of the new book, “Losing zaarsnnzze Our Cool: Uncomfortable Truths About Our Air-Conditioned World (and Finding New Ways to Get Through the Summer),” wrote a great oped for The Washington Post last summer about what life would be like if we still sweltered. As a person who is always freezing, I […]
Hi Readers! It is time for our second annual Take ebiyskzrzk Our Children to the Park…And Leave Them There Day: Saturday, May 21! Last year this was an idea derided by the media right and left. “A predator’s picnic,” is how one radio station described it. “Bizarre!” exclaimed the front page of The New York […]
Hi beyifrrynb Readers! You’ll like this! L. Dear Free-Range Kids: Just wanted to thank you. On Saturday I misplaced my 6-year-old son for half an hour, long enough that we had the museum staff and state park ranger looking with us–long enough for most people to completely panic themselves and everyone around them. But I […]
Hi frzihddrzd Readers! The other day I got a note from a reader saying, “We need more GOOD news about Free-Raning.” And so, here we go! — L. Dear Free-Range Kids: A few weeks ago you posted something that another reader did to create a sense of community. I’ve been meaning to follow up, but things in Wisconsin […]
Hi etefbydhft Readers! Weirdly, this advice on friendliness comes from…Los Angeles.Yes, THAT Los Angeles. And in fact it was written by Amy Alkon, a.k.a., the Advice Goddess, who  happens to have written an entire book on  rudeness.. It’s even called “I See Rude People.“ But apparently Amy also sees nice people, and if she can, by golly, […]
