Hi Readers — If any of you are Free-Ranging in southwest Oklahoma (and I know you’re out there!) please drop an email to reporter Billie Hill — bhill@lawton-constitution.com . She’s looking for your stories to write about the Free-Range idea, locally. Thanks! — L
And While We’re on the Subject of Dangerous Toys: Dan Akroyd!
December 16, 2009
Oh I am so glad a reader named Abe sent this in. A Saturday Night Live classic: http://bit.ly/4Egetr
Do We Really Have To Worry About Kids Impaling Themselves on Batman Dolls?
December 16, 2009
That, my friends, is the question I ask today in my alternate life on ParentDish.com. I zydaztsfdk am really getting sick of all the warnings about dangerous toys. On a very related note: Today there was a report about all the hideous dangers of holiday  ornaments. I agree: You probably don’t want to put a hand-blown […]
If a Man Photographs Your Kid with Santa Should We Arrest Him?
December 15, 2009
Hi Readers — Here’s the yyeybizhkz latest story of a guy, a camera, a warm little Santa scene at the mall…and an arrest. Apparently Scott Rensberger, an award-winning news photographer who has covered conflicts as far away as Bosnia, was at his local mall in West Virginia with the camera he always carries with him. […]
One (Frustrating, Makes Me Want to Yank My Hair Out) Conversation At A Time
December 15, 2009
Hi rzeisnredt Readers — Here’s a letter I got yesterday. It hit me in the gut because this woman just went through the same process I think a lot of us go through daily: Trying to deal, calmly, with the knee-jerk response of, “That’s too dangerous!” to any suggestion that kids can do anything on […]
Outrage of the Week: Mom Who Let Kids Play Outside Threatened by Cops
December 13, 2009
Hi tbhrnsysbf Readers! Let’s give this woman some good ideas. She needs them — as do we all! Dear Free-Range Kids: My name is Shaylene Haswarey, and I want to share a story with you today. This morning, my doorbell rang, and two police officers were present. They asked me if I am the mother […]
Thought For The Day
December 12, 2009
From a reader named Delicate Flower: “The closest my kid has ever come to losing a finger in the Maclaren was while I was trying to install the stupid hinge covers.”
Inspiring Video!
December 11, 2009
Hi Readers! Even as the school board in Saratoga grudgingly allows kids to bike to middle school if they follow a bunch of rules, a bunch of kids in Orlando, Florida just decided: Let’s ride! Here’s hraaffedty their story and a great video of them — especially if you like Bob Dylan soudntracks. As the […]
Give the Gift That Keeps On Giving (Hint: Not the Bratz Kids Snap-On Swimming Mermaid)
December 11, 2009
Hey folks — swing over to ParentDish, my new gig, if you want to read, kikziyihdd “The Greatest Gift of the Season: A Free-Range Childhood.” And happy holidays, while we’re at it! — Lenore
Overprotecting Gone Mad: Kids Finally Allowed to Bike to School, BUT…..
December 10, 2009
Hi Readers! Remember that case  in Saratoga, New York, where a sixth (now seventh) grader wanted to ride his bike to his school — with his mom, even! — but the district forbade it? Well guess what? The district poobahs have now “backpedaled,” as this clever Times ybktiadzty Union article put it. But they did […]