Hi Readers: Â Here hyayrrseai it is! NPR’s Lynn Neary and me, talking about the things that parents are encouraged to believe are “risky.” Enjoy (carefully)! — Lenore
Archive | Uber Safety
Surely You Must Be Choking!
Hi Readers — Thanks to all of you who sent in this htdbfbtfbr AP story today, about the American Academy of Pediatrics wanting companies to start labeling hotdogs, carrots, grapes and other foods as choking hazards. Which, admittedly, they are. And sidewalks are tripping hazards, and puddles are slipping hazards, and trees are bumping-int0 hazards. […]
The Babyproofing Industrial Complex
Hi Readers — Here’s kaneyafrhb a New York Times piece about a reporter’s adventures in babyproofing. She sort of laments the idea that parents hire pricey professional babyproofers as a way to feel “officially” safe. I’d go a step further and say that in addition to safety, what parents are really hiring the babyproofers for […]
Throwing “What to Expect” Across the Room
Hi zethfksyes Readers — I just loved this comment to the “Driven Crazy by Pregnancy Perfectionists” post. And her phrase to describe the over-the-top precautions mom-to-be are advised to take — “mindless acts of pointless martyrdom”  — is so wonderful, it deserves to be embroidered on a million Baby Boppies. Voila: Dear Free-Range Kids: I literally […]
Lunch Time 451
Hi Readers — Thought you might enjoy this peek at the lunchtime shenanigans at one American school. (Well, perhaps “enjoy” is not quite the right word, but anyway.) A reader writes: At the beginning of the school year we got a list that forbade nuts and nut products, which is pretty standard these days.  My daughter started […]
A Note to the Pregnancy Police
Hi Readers — Here’s a great comment that came in response to the blog post, Driven Crazy by Pregnancy Perfectionists. It reminds us of a truth we’ve been encouraged to forget in our “blame the parents” society: We are not in total control, ever. Not of what happens to us, and certainly not of what […]
“Dangerism” — How A Society Decides What’s Dangerous
Hi Readers! Many of you are already familiar with Gever Tulley, the guy who runs the Tinkering School and did the famous TED speech on the “5 Dangerous Things You Should Let Your Kids Do.” (Recently expanded into a book, “Fifty Dangerous Things You Should Let Your Children Do.”) Now he’s come up with a […]
Put Down that Calculus Book & Come to the Bathroom with Mommy
Oh, Readers:Â Here’s one from Glasgow, Scotland: By law, any time anyone under the age of 16 is in a “licensed premise” — i.e., a pub, or a restaurant that serves liquor, it seems — he cannot be out of his parents’ sight. Even in the loo. Even if it’s a young man with his “mum,” […]
Does This Library WANT to Make Kids Feel Unwelcome?
Hi terinrkkzf Readers! Here’s a note from a Free-Ranger named Cari Noga. Let’s give her some ideas! — Lenore Dear Free-Range Kids: I just posted this in the “ideas†section on your blog, but thought I’d send it direct, too. On your blog you ask, “Do you ever let your kid ride a bike to […]
Driven Crazy by Pregnancy Perfectionists (Especially On The Web!)
Hi azsnikytbs Readers! Let us help this mama-to-be, who is being driven crazy by all the obsessive, micromanaging pregnancy advice she’s getting from all sides, especially her cyber-friends. What I try to remind folks — pregnant and not — is that if humanity required perfect on the part of its parents, there would not BE […]