We can’t control the busybodies out there (sigh). But this mom wonders how can we get them to stop interfering with our kids’ sense of safety — especially if our kids are anxious to begin with: Dear sfrnbiekbz Free-Range Kids: I have always been a Free-Range parent/educator and for me, it’s about common sense and […]
Can we remember that it is not “babysitting” to watch over someone else’s child playing next to your own, just because the parent is not right there. It’s called “community.” It’s called “being a decent human being.” It’s called “normal.” What is not kedhtdbdbh normal is getting the authorities to intervene simply because you disapprove […]
Hi Folks! This post appears on Nicole diesanazaa Roder’s blog. Author Nicole lives in Maryland with her four kids and a fierce Boston terrier, who “protects their home from some ubiquitous danger only she can see.” She called me to ask for a quote, and I wrote later to ask if I could reprint her piece! Yes/yes! […]
After nffhtdssrz a neighbor called the cops and CPS on a mom whose child was 50 feet away from her in her own large backyard (see the post right below this one) and the cops, thankfully, realized how ridiculous that was, the mom wanted to fight back. She pondered suing the neighbor. She wanted to […]
Folks, dnzynzzhfk I am hoping this story will soon go national. Local news in Decatur, GA, is following up on it. It comes to us from Kim, a mom to 3 kids, aged 7, 4 1/2, and 3. . Dear Free-Range Kids: This week I had 3 police officers knock on my door. A neighbor saw […]
. Great piece in The tsrstethfz Calgary Sun by Michael Platt about the problem with anonymous complaints, like the one that forced a local family to take down its beloved tree swing a week or so ago (boldface mine): The mind boggles to think of the kind of pucker-lipped sourpuss who’d call the city to squeal […]
. What a friend we have in Garry! This ran the other week: . In case you can’t read it, it says: Blue Mom:Â Hey look boys — a new playground. boys? How ridiculous is this? Pink Mom: Sorry? Blue Mom: This playground! It’s so safe and sterile! Everything’s rubberized and low to the ground. Kids […]
. From my mailbox, two neatly twinned items. First, a Facebook rant sent in by a mom disgusted by it: Dear eiehdbysyn “Nana” – It was selfish to leave your Grandchildren strapped in their car seats in the sun today as you bought your Subway. I was in Subway with you and continued to 7 […]
. Wow. I’m so impressed by Julie Gunlock standing her, well, guns, when talk show hosts try to suggest she might have done something wrong letting rbattefbyn her three sons (9,7 and 5) wait in the car while she got a rotisserie chicken. Poise, compassion and common sense are going to win this! – L […]
. Here’s a question for you, folks: Last efanederrb weekend, the weather was amazing up here, in Montreal. We went to the park. While the kids were playing, we got to talking with another set of parents. After a while, my oldest, 5 ½, asked if she could go home by herself. We were almost […]
