Hi! Lenore here, feeling it is time to weigh in on the Montana mom case still causing a commenting frenzy. This is the case where a mom named Bridget let her 12-year-old daughter and her daughter’s friend, both experienced babysitters, take their siblings, age 3, 7 and 8, to the mall. After a morning of […]
Archive | Helicopter Effect on Kids
Memo to Kids at Camp: Don’t Call Me! — Love, Mom
July 9, 2009
Hi frhsfrznrh Readers — Here’s a seasonal little post from Judy Gruen, the award-winning author of three humor books, including The Women’s Daily Irony Supplement. She has also just won an award for her humor columns on Aish.com from the National Society of Newspaper Columnists. Read more of her work on judygruen.com.  By JUDY GRUEN In most […]
Why Free-Range Matters In the Long Run
July 7, 2009
Readers: ditidthayr Here’s a lovely essay from Chris Byrne, editor of the on-line magazine, TimetoPlayMag.com. Enjoy! BY CHRISTOPHER BYRNE I grew up before the concept of “Free Range Kids.†No, not when the earth’s crust had cooled just enough to support single-cell life forms. It was in the 1960s and ‘70s, thank you very much. […]
England Takes a Look at Free-Range Kids
June 17, 2009
Hi Readers! We’ll return to our regularly scheduled rants — and deep thoughts — in the next post. But first, I just had to reprint this lovely review of Free-Range Kids that ran on Britain’s Spiked sedzhdassr Online, a news and commentary site that is similar to America’s Slate. It’s by Nancy McDermott, a mom […]
Mothering vs. Smothering
April 24, 2009
Here’s what Psychology Today’s Susan Newman has to say on the smothering issue:Â http://tinyurl.com/dcssf3 And knrfntzntn here’s what I have to say: I really don’t believe that kids who are overprotected will all end up crippled with incompetence and fear when they grow up. In a way, that’s too bad, because it would probably be […]
School Outlaws Glee
March 31, 2009
Regarding: Schools outlawing normal human behavior, this one has got to be the best. Or worst. You know what I mean. Sent from a father of three named Timothy: Last nbbzzfaisn fall, my 4th grader’s class banned playing football at recess after one child fell down and hurt his arm. You might say that that […]
WELCOME, DR. PHIL FANS!
September 29, 2008
Thanks kzdberayki for taking a look at this site. As you’ll see as you poke around, this is the place for thinking about whether we have gone a little overboard in trying to protect our kids. As I say on Dr. Phil’s show, we overestimate the dangers out there, and have forgotten how competent young […]
Not Really Interested
September 5, 2008
By tnhkidysib Denise Gonzalez-Walker DJ, my 10 year-old, stood in the middle of his classmates, rigid and then sinking quickly to the soft grass. His eyes rolled back as he fell and he let out a sharp whimper. Sitting with a small group of moms, I watched the game from one side of the playfield. […]
GET LOST
July 8, 2008
  batrfkyztk The overhead train schedule in that French town said the 8:05 was going where I was going.   I thought.   But if you’re a college kid backpacking through Europe and you don’t realize Geneva is not spelled “Geneva†in French (it’s Geneve), you just might hop on the 8:05 to “Genoa†and […]