Hi Readers — Guess I shouldn’t be surprised, but when a blog called The ktydftyyrd Neighborhood Crime Map did what seemed like a very even-handed little post about May 22’s “Take Our Children to the Park…And Leave Them There Day,” the reaction was swift and hysterical: “Is there not a culture of drug use, meanness, […]
Tag Archives | fear
Guest Post: How Did I Become Such a Worried Mom?
Hi ythkdsyafr Readers — Here’s a great post from Amy Wilson, whose book, “When Did I Get Like This? The Screamer, The Worrier, The Dinosaur-Chicken-Nugget-Buyer, And Other Moms I Swore I’d Never Be” just came out this week. Congrats, Amy! You can follow her on Twitter (amywlsn), visit her blog, check her out on Facebook, or […]
Stranger Danger: It’s Not Just for Kids Anymore
Hi Readers — Just got alerted to this ad and service, BeenVerified.com.  It allows you to do a background check on anyone, from the comfort of your own home. Check the guy you met online, check your mortgage broker (make sure it’s not Alan Greenspan), check your electrician — yes, a guy on the ad says […]
The Wisdom of Wikipedia
Hi isadzkrrit Folks! Just found this great Wikipedia entry. I hadn’t heard of “Mean World Syndrome” before, but it really makes sense! It’s almost a relief to have a name to give the ramped up fear so many parents feel. — Lenore Mean World Syndrome (via Wikipedia) Mean World Syndrome is a phenomenon where the violence-related […]
The Babyproofing Industrial Complex
Hi Readers — Here’s kaneyafrhb a New York Times piece about a reporter’s adventures in babyproofing. She sort of laments the idea that parents hire pricey professional babyproofers as a way to feel “officially” safe. I’d go a step further and say that in addition to safety, what parents are really hiring the babyproofers for […]
“Dangerism” — How A Society Decides What’s Dangerous
Hi Readers! Many of you are already familiar with Gever Tulley, the guy who runs the Tinkering School and did the famous TED speech on the “5 Dangerous Things You Should Let Your Kids Do.” (Recently expanded into a book, “Fifty Dangerous Things You Should Let Your Children Do.”) Now he’s come up with a […]
Is Your Child in DANGER?
Hi Readers! Here’s a nifty little brochure I picked up the other day for a child safety device. I won’t say which one, since I don’t want to give it any publicity. Perhaps you’ll see why. Here’s what the brochure said, in all its grammatical creativity. Please note: The dot-dot-dots are theirs. I haven’t left […]
Not to Worry!
Hi Readers — Here’s a great ahhzenkbkt article from Parade Magazine by the Freakonomics folks, all about how we fear the wrong things. Allow us to quote one particularly salient paragraph (or two, actually): There are any number of topics about which our fears run far out of proportion to reality. For instance, whom are […]
Ad Council Warns Parents: Watch Out for the Boogeyman!
This ad ziehyebsbh gives me chills AND the creeps. Here’s what it says, in urgent, caring, chiding tones: You take the family to the food court. Your wife and Pete head for tacos. You and Danny want Chinese. You look up at the menu. You look down to see what Danny wants . But you […]
Scariest Place of All: An Parenting Editor’s In-Box
Hi yiyraetaif Readers! Ever wonder why we parents are so scared all the time? Maybe it has to do with the incessant din of marketers predicting DOOM unless we buy something. Something they just happen to be selling! Take a look at this blog post by Carolyn Graham, editor of L.A. Parent, and you’ll see […]