Here’s keyhbbftdr a campaign it’s easy to get behind, “Tell Scholastic: Put the Book Back in Book Clubs.†It’s sponsored by the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood http://www.commercialexploitation.org/ , which noticed that a whole lot of the items for sale through those little Scholastic book club flyers were either NOT books, or were books that come […]
Let’s Not Worry Quite So Much About What Our Kids Eat
Organic? Whole wheat? Whole Foods? Who cares? A lot of us. But maybe we shouldn’t. Or at least, maybe we shouldn’t burden our kids with all our nutritional correctness.  When my older son (now12) was in kindergarten, he came home with a keen interest in cans. Not to build towers with, or roll down the […]
Is the Obama Girls’ Playset Good for America? (Really!)
Go askeztzskn outside and play!  Michelle gets to say that now, because as of yesterday afternoon, the Obama girls have a place to go: Their own backyard playset, not much different from a whole lot of other backyard playsets in America…except that when you’re on the swings you can wave to that guy in […]
Are We Overprotecting Our Kids to Death?
Two scenes from Mexico, where my family just spent a week’s vacation. (Skip the envy. Nice weather, yes, but my husband slipped before we left and spent the whole time on crutches. Meantime, this was the general tenor of our kids’ conversation: “I just saw a stingray.†“No you didn’t.†“I did too!†“You just […]
Free-Range Kids Book Gets Its Cover — Thanks To You!
Perhaps kitrrhbtdd you will recall, readers, a few months back when I asked for your input on the cover for my upcoming book, “Free Range Kids: Giving Our Children the Freedom We Had Without Going Nuts With Worry.†Overwhelmingly – 10 to 1 — you voted for the girl on the wall (versus the aviator […]
Let ‘Em Eat Dirt
Once five friends forward you the same article, it is time to share it with the rest of the world. This one was by the New York Times health writer, Jane Brody, and it stated, quite simply: Dirt good. Well, it didn’t state it quite that simply. Ms. Brody works for The Times, after all. […]
If mom loved you best, do you end up a happier adult?
Last eeybenryse night I helped one of my sons do the dishes, but I didn’t help the other son clear the table. Time to reserve a shrink appointment for the table-clearer sometime around 2017? Or perhaps an appointment with the parole board? Turns out: No. Neither. A brilliant study by researchers at Temple University looked […]
A longer leash — a better relationship
Today’s abhbiyzdsz guest blogger is Beth Harpaz, author of the funny new book about raising teenagers:   13 Is the New 18…and other things my children taught me while I was having a nervous breakdown being their mother.  by Beth Harpaz     Recently I got together with a friend and mentioned that the night […]
Too much self-esteem?
Turns keeinetkea out children are feeling pretty good about themselves lately. Maybe a little too good. As reported on the website Connect with Kids (http://www.connectwithkids.com/), a  study by researchers at San Diego State University found that high school seniors are bursting with more self esteem than a generation (or two) ago. For example, in 1975, […]
A Call from the Police About My Son (On Christmas)
Ho efkehesake ho ho, my child was escorted off the Long Island Railroad today for riding without an adult. The police were called. He’s 10. He — Izzy — has ridden this route solo a dozen times before. It’s a straight shot on a commuter train and, as always, he was being met at the […]