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This Thanksgiving, Be Thankful for Strangers!

As we approach the holiday of gratitude, here’s a little reminder that “stranger-danger” gets it wrong, and we should be grateful for all the humans looking out for kids. This video (click here) was sent to Let Grow by Rosalie Witt, an early childhood instructor, consultant, and coach in Connecticut who helped us pass that state’s […]

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liam neeson on phone

What Hath Liam Neeson Wrought?

Today’s pithy comment comes in response to yesterday’s post about a mom sick with fear because a man (!!!) was in the vicinity of her daughter. Nothing happened. And yet – because the press is so eager for any story of a child in peril – it reported the “incident” with the gravity usually reserved […]

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The Switch Witch Must Go!

The New York Times columnist Jessica Grose has a plea for all of us adults: Stop Micromanaging Halloween.  It’s a trend that’s been growing like the Great Pumpkin ever since from back when *I* was a kid being warned about poison candy. (The number of kids poisoned by a stranger’s candy in all that time? […]

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50% of Parents Won’t Let Their Kids Go to Another Aisle in Grocery: Poll

Most parents believe it’s important for kids to develop independence in their elementary school years by doing things “away from direct adult supervision,” according to a new survey by the University of Michigan’s C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital. But in a national poll of 1000 parents, the hospital found “a sizeable gap between parent attitudes and actions.” […]

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charlotte sena

Washington Post Scares Parents Needlessly

Stunned joy is what most of us felt when we learned that Charlotte Sena, the 9-year-old abducted while riding her bike in upstate New York, has been found and returned to her family — alive. The alleged perp has been seized, bringing the number of active Amber Alerts in the entire USA to…one: Keshawn Williams, […]

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Let’s Hear It For Talking to Strangers!

What a fantastic study: Research recently published in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology found that when people are prompted to talk to a stranger, surprising things happen: They start to feel less awkward after doing it a few times. They feel less likely to be rejected. They are more willing to do it in the future. […]

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hunt gather parent

Hunt, Gather, Parent, Get Chewed Out by The Cops for Letting Your Kid Walk Two Blocks

All hail Michaeleen Doucleff! She’s author of the incredibly great, life-hacking, eye-opening book, “Hunt, Gather, Parent.” She and her daughter Rosy traveled the world to witness the parenting practices that have been working for millennia in traditional societies. They watched kids happily hunt, gather, clean up, make food, and help their parents every which way, […]

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