Readers — A Michigan mom is upset not just that her 8-year-old daughter hopped a public bus without telling her, but that the bus driver didn’t immediately take some kind of unspecified but heroic action to stop this non-catastrophe: Two things in particular gall me about this story: 1 – The air time afforded to […]
Archive | Miscellaneous
Government Should Not Step In to Make Us “Perfect” Parents
Readers teesddhsdb — I am honored to present this brilliant piece by Jan Macvarish, a research fellow at the University of Kent and co-author of the book Parenting Culture Studies, which asks how come the way we feed, talk to, and play with our kids has become the stuff of public debate and government policy? […]
Human Decency: Over $60,000 Raised for Homeless Mom Who Left Kids in Car During Job Interview
Readers — A few weeks back a mom in Arizona, yes, hot Arizona, left her kids in the car when she went in to a job interview. This was clearly not the greatest thing to do, but for her, at the moment, it seemed like the only option. Without a home to live in or […]
Of Easter Eggs and Kidnapping
Readers rabsytyhth — A friend who’d like to be identified only as Catherine L. posted the  rules from her town’s Easter Egg hunt (above) on Facebook. These include: Wristbands indicate the age group of each child and the number on the band matches the number issued to the parent. After each hunt, children will be […]
Shoot the Mom
Readers — Sometimes I hear about stories in an untimely manner — like berdesrakt this one, which happened a year ago but is making my blood reach 212 degrees Fahrenheit, so I have to write about it even at this late date: Apparently Homeland Security felt it needed to train officers to shoot with “No […]
Motherhood: World’s Toughest Job — Not
Readers, Here’s a video that has gotten over 10 million hits so far: It’s sdedyshbys about motherhood being the hardest job at all, requiring 135 hours a week, lots of standing, very little sleeping and zero breaks. But as “The Evil H.R. Lady” points out in this brilliant post, motherhood is not the utterly difficult, demanding, […]
Fake Kidnapping at a Playground: What Could Possibly Go Wrong?
Readers – –This hfztzibaai just in. Two masked men grabbed a 4 year old from a playground and threw him in a van. Surprise! It was to make a video about “kidnapping awareness.” Why is this insane? A – The “perps” could have been shot. B – It is based on the crazy idea that WITHOUT a […]
An Amber Alert about Amber Alerts
Readers yintkrdedk — I haven’t signed up for Amber Alerts, so I haven’t experienced this. Have you? How common is it? I realize Amber Alerts CAN save kids, but not if they become the boy who cried wolf. (What a famous boy!) – L. Dear Free-Range Kids: I am a faithful reader who grew up […]
We Cannot “Mold” Kids into Exactly Who We Want Them To Be
Readers — I find this little report, “Neuroscience fkhskynzfy Used and Abused in Child Rearing Policy” so interesting, for two reasons. First, by questioning the common wisdom that kids’ brains”irreversibly ‘sculpted’ by parental care” the first three years , it alleviates some of the incredible pressure put on parents to make sure that every single […]
A Toddler Melts Down, A Busybody Calls 911, Cops Arrive, Guns Drawn, And Then…
Readers sfnntyydyt — Why do I keep blogging? It’s to remind us, literally daily, that there are HUGE CONSEQUENCES when we believe the BIG LIE that our kids are in constant danger. One consequence is that we interpret normal parenting behavior through the lens of both sanctimony and fear, seeing danger where there’s just the […]