Just added to our blogroll.
So as you can see, the boy has had a freakishly long nap today, which means I’ve gotten tons of writing done. Here I am on my third post. I have no idea why he’s so tired, but I have to admit that I am loving it.
Just added Free Range Kids to our blogroll. I’m pretty interested in reading the book as well, which is all about bringing up kids without hovering over them every second. My husband and I actually talk about this subject quite a bit, as we both remember roaming around without parents through our neighborhoods, riding our bikes, or flying kites at the school yard on our own. But we live in LA, and we both agree that this kind of thing would be just impossible here. Busy streets, crazy people everywhere, and–well…really I lived in a city with plenty of busy streets when I was a kid, too. So…is it just that things are different now? It just seems like kids don’t wander around on their own anymore. And maybe they should get to.
Okay, next I need to review a book I actually have read, and get ready, ’cause it’s a scary one.
Heather Said,
May 29, 2009 @ 10:17 pm
Thanks for the pointer! I come at this thing from the opposite angle-my parents were a generation ahead of their time in terms of the “safety” craze. I have no clear idea of what a free-range childhood would be, but desperately want that for my daughter.
chanson Said,
May 30, 2009 @ 1:50 am
I haven’t read this particular book, but I’ve heard of it.
One of the reasons I like public transportation so much is that young teens have the freedom to get around on their own, rather than requiring a parent to chauffer them. A big part of the problem (for moving towards independence in reasonable stages) is the sea of sprawl where there’s nothing but other people’s yards within a kid’s walking or biking range.
Tekla Said,
May 31, 2009 @ 5:36 pm
I’d like to look at that book.
I am filled with happiness whenever I get to see my 5 year-old girl running with a pack of kids: for a few minutes after school on her elementary school campus or at a friends house who has neighbor kids and a quiet street. This is a rare experience for her. We have no neighbor kids (no even sidewalks on our street!) She’s an only child. She basically is shuttled around by me in the car, and she is really constantly supervised. I worry about her lack of freedom. I try to do things like walk her home from school sometimes and let her dawdle and examine gardens, dogs, cracks in the sidewalk. I let her have her space at home: in her room or the back yard or bathroom. Sometimes this has backfired with some crazy mess or mischief she’s made. But she said to me once last year, “I wish I could climb over the fence and go have an adventure by myself, without you and daddy.” That says it all.
Julie Said,
May 31, 2009 @ 8:25 pm
I remember that when I went to kindergarten, my mom taught me how to cross the street, so I could walk by myself. I had to look both ways and then look back to the left one more time. I was absolutely devoted to that little ritual and performed it painstakingly every time I went to school. I think the street I had to cross was pretty small and didn’t have much traffic, but Mom must have drummed it into my head that it was imperative to really, really look!
This was in Yonkers, a middle class suburban area just north of the Bronx. Not exactly small town. But if I’m ever out for a walk in my neighborhood here in LA, I don’t see kids that young leaving school on their own. Their parents come to get them.
Somehow five seems young to me to go to school alone. But I do remember that I did it!