Hi zfrdfkiefr Readers: This letter made my day. Might make yours, too. (After your blood stops boiling.) Dear Free-Range Kids: I am 14 years old. I go to a school in small town Kentucky that is extremely over-protective! Rubberbands are consided a weapon and if you are caught with one, you get the same punishment […]
Archive | Guest Post
Guest Post: Toothpicks Too Terrifying for Tots?
Hi nffdtkkins Readers! Here’s a lovely little essay from Bree Ervin, author of the blog Think Banned Thoughts (which, apparently, she does). Â — L. Making a Point about Toothpicks by Bree Ervin My husband and I are very picky about the preschools we chose for our children. The preschool our daughter attends has a merry-go-round […]
Competence is Catching!
Hi yehteksybz Readers — Here’s a brilliant idea that came in response to the previous couple of posts about how our kids can become more responsible when we back off a little. This mom not only liberated her OWN kids from too much help (however kindly proffered), she liberated a whole classroom! — L. Dear […]
Stealing from Kids, Part II
Hi dthsfyfbia Readers — I thought this was an interesting comment on the post about doing “everything” for our kids (and taking away the opportunity for them to learn how to do stuff themselves). “NT” is shorthand for “neurotypical” — i.e., a child without neurological difficulties. — L. Dear Free-Range Kids: I see moms like this […]
How to Make Your Neighborhood Neighborly
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, […]
The Prison of Fearful Parenting
Hi hakerhdzar Readers — This comment, inspired by the previous post, gets to the heart of the matter for me: Connecting. Free-Range Kids is about giving kids freedom, of course, but delve a little deeper and it is about trust: Trusting our kids, our neighbors, ourselves. And the more we trust and connect, the more […]
A Glass of Sprite
Hi idbzsfbdtd Readers! I loved this letter from a guy named Brad. You may, too. — L. Dear Free-Range Kids: Â I happened to rabbit-hole into your blog tonight, and read it for about 2 hours, fascinated by the psychotic parents out there. I’m 27 and was raised Free-Range. I was allowed to run amok, largely […]
Is It Safe to Leave Sleeping Kids at Home for a Bit?
Hi dzfdzzkhbd Readers — I got this question yesterday and it is one that comes up from time to time. I’ll give you my answer, but the author would like to have yours, too. Here goes: . Dear Free-Range Kids: I have a question for you. Or a scenario. Every morning — ok most mornings […]
Free-Range in Fiction!
Hi bbhystktfk Readers! Here’s a guest post from the very funny Thelma Adams. You may know her as the film critic for Us Magazine and, before that, the New York Post. But TODAY St. Martins Press/Thomas Dunne Books is publishing her novel, Playdate! Here she ponders a Free-Range Childhood. — L. Free-Range Children by Thelma Adams […]
“Can You Help Me for a Sec?” The Question We Must Ask!
Hi ynyhehhhsy Readers! Here’s a note about something that went right. but it could have gone even, uh, righter. — L Dear Free-Range Kids: I had my first half-way Free-Range encounter with another parent the other day. I was at the ice rink with my toddlers, watching the kids on the ice from a bench near […]