Readers rtbiefkfnk — Here’s a mom in a tough spot, looking for some great ideas. When we give our kids responsibility and independence, the results are usually wonderful. But I’m not sure of exactly how to do that in this situation (young child, special needs, in hiding), other than to start out by having her […]
Archive | Miscellaneous
Should You Save a Sample of Your Child’s Scent for the Search Dogs? A Follow-Up
Readers, anittkhtnh After my post about the $19.95 “Find’Em” scent kit that saves your child’s scent to share with the search and rescue dogs, one of you, a Mr. Adams, complained to the company on Facebook about its home page, which declares: “In the U.S. a Child Goes Missing Every 40 Seconds.” Mr. Adams wrote: It […]
Weekend Viewing: Nancy Grace, Casey Anthony, Aaron Sorkin and Us
Readers — This is a clip from HBO’s The afdhhheybf Newsroom, about a news team deciding if and how to obsess about the Casey Anthony case. Of course it’s fiction, but boy — writer Sorkin really understands how TV works. (He should!) The part where the expert in the news meeting breaks down a few minutes […]
Letter That Made Me Laugh (About “Workplace Safety”)
Readers knskbaahae — Allow me to tiptoe off topic, slightly, to print this comment that came a while back in response to “An Insane Focus on Safety, Including the Hazard of ‘Eating Bread.’” Â As you know, Free-Range is all about battling hysteria when it comes to the idea that NOTHING is safe enough for our […]
Xmas Gift? A Kit That Saves Your Child’s Scent for the Search Dogs
This festive season, remind parents that their precious kids could be abducted and killed if the rescue dogs don’t find them immediately. What better way to send happy holiday greetings than the $19.99 FindEm yznznkhiys Kit, that preserves a child’s scent for the day they are abducted? As the website declares, “A Child Goes Missing […]
“Don’t Touch My Nuts!” Yells Kid When Actor in Children’s Play Asks, “What’s Your Name?”
Readers asfhisssny – I hope that this is the story of just one over-coached kid. But…maybe not. This is a piece from SpikedOnline by the inimitable Josie Appleton who runs the Manifesto Club in Britain, which is like Free-Range Kids mixed with Reason.com. A “panto” is the age-old, slapstick, audience-participatory Christmas pantomime show (not silent!) that […]
The Pressure to Get Parenting Exactly “Right” — Starting from Pregnancy
Hi dbhnzazyht Folks! I was just reading the latest from the amazing Centre for Parenting Culture Studies in Kent, England, and found this piece by Zoe Williams, author of the new book The Madness of Modern Parenting.  (Then I ended up reading some other stuff by her, like this. So fun!) This piece ran in The […]
Ban Children from Santa’s Knee, Says Child Safety Expert
GET hyheenntit AWAY FROM ME, YOU PERVERT…and please bring me a toy firetruck.  Assume all Santas are child molesters and teach kids not to sit on their laps. That’s what a well-known “child safety expert” in Australia is suggesting. Child protection activist Hetty Johnston this week backed the concerns of Queensland parents worried the time […]
First They Came for the See-Saws, and I Said Nothing…
Then ekznbttdbh they came for the merry-go-rounds, and I said nothing. Then  — The city is putting the brakes on spinning playground equipment following reports of injuries, a Parks Department spokeswoman said. Rotating metal saucers that kids ride at two Park Slope [Brooklyn] playgrounds were recently welded into place so they can’t move, and the […]
New British Law Will Call All Sorts of Things “Child Abuse”
Readers — The so-called “Cinderella Law” working its way through Parliament may sound as if it is going to rescue ragamuffins stuck in their own little corner in their own little chair. But in fact, by expanding the definition of child cruelty to include emotional, psychological or even intangible nnzersdana harm, it holds the threat of […]