Hi Folks! This cartoon comes to us azbazyefae from Russia, which apparently has some similar issues to the United States, when it comes to authorities deciding whether parents are “good” enough. Small world! – L. Knock knock.
Archive | Miscellaneous
Maybe Not Everything is a Teachable Moment
Hi Readers — Believe it or not, this isn’t even a post about Sandy Hook. It’s about Tony Hawks and a photo he posted of himself skateboarding as he swung his 4-year-old daughter, who was not wearing a helmet. I believe in helmets. I love them. I make my kids wear them. But I do […]
“Why I Made Myself Stop Grieving about Sandy Hook” – Guest Post
Hi arbnkskazi Readers — I found myself nodding along with almost every word of this post, by Jennifer Murch, a homeschooling mom of four  on five acres near Harrisonburg, VA.  You can find more of her musings and lots of recipes at her blog, Mama’s Minutia. – L Self-Care I first started writing this post in […]
Post-Traumatic Stupidity Syndrome: “For Safety, Do Not Hold the Door Open for the Parent Behind You at Drop-Off”
Readers btttzktnyi — This is PRECISELY and I mean PRECISELY what I feared might happen, post Sandy. First of all, there is the way we are almost ENCOURAGED to believe that if some children are hurt, somewhere, sometime, now all children are in danger, everywhere, all the time. Second, there is the ease with which […]
When a 10-Year-Old Asks, “What’s the Point of Living When We’re Just Going to Die?”
Hi sdztkzydhk Readers — My friend Nancy McDermott, a columnist at  Spiked-Online,  wrote this to me the other day. It was not apropos of the Sandy Hook shooting, just apropos  of being alive, being a parent, and being a realist, which means (believe it or not) being grateful. – L. My son turned 10 the other […]
Survey: What Is Your School Doing — or Not Doing — In Response to Sandy Hook
Hi dnrafrbtbb Readers! Wondering what’s happening at your local schools, vis a vis more security. My older son’s high school is conducting a lockdown drill today, my younger son’s principal emailed home a comforting note but did not discuss any new procedures. Â One reader wrote: Dear Free-Range Kids: I’m wondering if anyone has contacted or […]
School Goes Into Lockdown — Complete with Kids Crying in Closet — Over Umbrella
Hi Folks — I know everyone’s obviously tense at the moment, but here’s a  classic overreaction: When some boys were shooting a video of themselves acting out the body’s immune system using an umbrella, they were mistaken for psychopaths and the school went into lockdown. Kids hid and cried, parents careened to the school (and, […]
“I Want to Share the Pain.” Help Me Figure Out Why
Hi Readers — Here’s an issue I truly want help figuring out. I just got a comment on the post below this one (which was about why zydhtfibfb the Sandy Hook shooting feels so close)Â from a reader very far away: All the way over here in Australia, this pain is just as raw. The […]
Why the Sandy Hook Shooting Feels So Close
Hi yhyhsiydae Readers — Here’s a piece I wrote for The Atlantic about the shooting. It’s not about gun control, it’s not about mental health services or the lack thereof. It’s about how living in modern, instantly connected times changes us, our reactions and our expectations. – L. A School Shooting in the Distance In […]
The School Shooting in Newtown
Readers, my heart is like yours: Shattered. My perspective, however, may be a little different. It’s impossible not to feel afraid, sad, sickened and deeply pessimistic when something like this occurs. However, “something like this” — well, there aren’t a lot of somethings like this, and that’s a truth I am desperately trying to remind […]