Howdy readers! If any of you are in or around New York City this weekend, I’m giving a free talk/Q&A on Saturday. Voila:
PLACE: Old First Reformed Church, 729 Carroll Street in Park Slope. Directions here.
TIME: isbsshsrya
Noon – 2.
KIDDIE CARE: Free!
COOKIES: A distinct possibility!
TV: My reality show is going to be filming it.
ME: Hoping to meet you! Say hi! Ask questions! Eat free cookies, if they materialize! And, of course, take the subway!
RSVP (not required, but what the hey): Jgillespie@cineflix.com
And if you can, please spread the word. Thanks!– L.
I’d like to come, but I’ll need to see full background checks for all of the Kiddie Care personnel. There’s a lot of whack-jobs out there… never know when a predator is going to strike, can’t be to careful!
I’m there. I cleared my schedule for my favorite NYC mom.
I know Aaron was being sarcastic, I liked it!
I wish I could be there, I don’t live in New York City but if I did I’d drop everything to go. I respect you so much, Lenore, you are a Goddess of common-sense parenting.
By the way, your appearance over the weekend was filmed, you stated–where can it be seen? All of these different TV shows, appearances on Dr Phil etc–and I can’t see any of it. Egads!
LRH
Darn! I was in town last weekend… back in PA now. Sorry I missed you!
If you ever go west of the Mississippi, let me know, damnit. I would love to meet you and the cookies would be on me!
Someday I would love to be able to come hear you speak, i just have to wait for you to come closer to me.I am a laidback(not to be confused with lazy as many people have said to me) parent that expects my kids to become independant and self reliant and your blog gave me a name for my parenting style. Reading your blog helps me keep those what ifs that others are always poping up with in perspective. It also helps me realize I am not negligent, crazy or alone. I’m proudly free range and so glad that you created this blog.
I am sorry for posting too much in this thread, I did already give my 2 cents worth, but I wanted to really give a “thumbs up” and a “thank you!” shout-out of sorts to what Lea said. That is EXACTLY the way I am as well.
In earlier threads, issues have been addressed by me & others that are clearly “side-topics” not necessarily about free-range in nature, and I’m not sure I am supposed to be doing that. Regardless, I can say that this blog has become a part of my life because of things that Lea said. I am very laid-back in my parenting (as long as they’re being respectful & obedient, a la John Rosemond) and, like Lea said, expect my kids to become independent & self-reliant–and yes, it becomes confused as lazy or indifferent, when it’s not that at all.
Now, thanks to you Lenore, we can give a name for it, “free range,” and we have so many wonderful stories from others with a similar outlook–and it’s so refreshing to have these others for validation that we’re not wacko, and we’re lucky to have a wonderful, intelligent, bubbly, engaging, enlightened, educated and “in-touch” pundit such as yourself as the one who stirs the free-range parenting drink.
To further second Lea’s thoughts, like her, I would absolutely LOVE the opportunity to hear you speak, I just have to wait for you to be closer to my vicinity–and hope I conduct myself here in the meantime to make it to where you would also consider it an honor to meet me as well (rather than you replying “oh it’s you, I have a bone to pick with you Mister,” ha ha).
I can promise you, Lea and I are hardly the only ones here to feel the way we do about you, Lenore. You are our free-range, common sense parenting queen and we so love you for what you do. Long live the queen!
LRH
I also “third” what Lea and LRH said. If you’re ever speaking in Southern Germany, I’ll be there. Oh, I’ll be in New York City for a few days in early September. If you’re speaking then, I’ll make sure that I’m in the audience. I would love the opportunity to meet you. In fact, in one of my old blog entries, I said that you were one of the people on my “would love to have lunch with” list.
Even if I don’t comment on every thread, I read this blog religiously. It’s a real breath of fresh air to have someone who is a voice of common sense. It’s also nice to see others out there who are also free-rangers. So many parenting blogs out there advocate helicopter parenting. I always believed in Dr. Phil’s philosophy of parenting, which is that we’re raising adults and not kids. I want my son to be as capable and independent as possible when he goes off to college. Here in Germany parents are very free-range and their kids do things that would get their Stateside counterparts in trouble with the police. A child walking, riding a bus or train, or riding his bike alone is a normal sight. Kids here are given the tools to do these things safely. When my son rides his bike to the library or game shop, nobody stops him and asks where his parents are.
A digression…when I was 15 I was walking on a main street in Los Angeles to meet my friend’s mother, who would give me a ride to school. A man stopped and asked me for a ride. I told him, “No thank you” and went on my way. A week later it happened again and he was very persistent. I ran to the place where I met my friend’s mother and was somehow able to get the man’s (partial) license plate number. It turned out that that man was a serial rapist whose MO was offering teenage girls rides and then raping them. Now that I’m a parent, I could have used that experience in two ways. I could have been a total helicopter mother and not let my son go anywhere on his own because I was afraid that he would be abducted by a pervert and sexually abused. Option #2 was to teach him about only accepting rides from people that he knows and use my experience with the rapist (in age-appropriate language) as a good reason why that rule is important. I went with Option 2.
Back to the topic…keep up your good work, Lenore. There are lots of us here in “Cyberland” who support you.
Well, pity I’m not still living in Park Slope anymore, is alls I can say – I hate missing out on free cookies!
For real, this is going to be SO MUCH FUN.
Can’t wait to see the taping. You’ll let us know where we can view it as soon as poss, yes?
Lenore, your message kicks butt, so it’s a foregone conclusion that YOU are going to kick butt on Saturday, in Park Slope aka overparentingcentral.com. Go get ’em tiger. Set those kids (and parents, too) free!
Now, just you wait a cotton-pickin’ minute. Has it occured to you that people might bring *children* to this event? The hazards are endless! First, you just encouraged them to take the subway, and we all know what trouble that leads to. Second, you suggested cookies–I hope they are store-bought and individually wrapped, not those highly suspisious home-made kinds! Third, the event is being televised–which means innocent kids will be shown on TV, like a commercial for predators. Is there no end to your depravity!?
Wish I could go but I am all the way in southern Louisiana so I don’t think I’ll be making the drive…but please keep us updated on your show, Lenore! I can’t wait to see it if and when it arrives on US television.
I will be there as I live in the City.
I was told never accept bribes from strangers, but then again, you don’t seem all that strange. Got any Peanut Butter cookies?
How does one see a video of this speech, as well as the earlier one (the one you asked for examples regarding)? I know you were brilliant, but I’d like to see in what WAYS you were brilliant, and so I can yell-out “right on sister!” every few seconds. (Ha ha.)
LRH
I’ll be thinking of you tomorrow Lenore while my kids run amok at a music festival!
Yay! I’ve been following this movement for the past year and a half from San Francisco, but I’m out here for the summer and am thrilled to finally be able to attend one of these!
How did it go? Will there be a video of it, or clips, on YouTube?
By the way, my son wrote a list of things that he wants to do in New York this September. One of them was, “Ride the subway.” He’ll get lots of subway riding because that’s how we’re planning to get around.
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This really answered the downside, thank you!