Free Range Kids

I recently came back from a week in California. My husband and I had dinner at a colleagues' family home. We, and I think they, enjoyed the exchange of chat about parenting, education, life etc. We were handed a copy of "Free Range Kids" by Lenore Skenazy. I heard stories about knee pads being available in the US to help "ease the transition from crawling on carpeted to hardwood floors"; about some families providing their toddlers with helmets to wear around the house to prevent bumps and bruises... Although these are extreme cases, they are indicative of the growing hesitancy and fears that are taking hold on many parents as they risk-assess day-to-day children's activities. 

This is associated with the hygiene-consciousness mentioned in a previous blog, and unfortunately is stifling the opportunities for children to be expressive, creative little beings and to learn some common sense. I do not blame parents, I am a victim of these worries too. The best we can do is try to rationalise the scare-mongering and work against a growing number of restrictions on children's lives. For example, I suspect that school trips aren't what they were when I was at school as the litigious world we live in now has grown and grown. This book offers a balanced, practical and witty guide to free range living for allsorts of stages in your children's lives.

Try reading some excerpts here: Commandment 1: Know When To Worry; When Judgemental Moms Attack. Or try reading the Free Range Kids website.

Some reviews (lifted from Amazon):

"This book is a bubbly but potent corrective for the irrational fears that drive so many parents crazy. Skenazy is witty, perceptive, persuasive, and above all, sensible."
—Robert Needlman, M.D., coauthor, Dr Spock’s Baby and Child Care, 8th Edition.

"Free-Range Kids is the best kind of manifesto: smart, funny, rigorous, sane, impassioned, and bristling with common sense. If you’re a parent, or planning to become one, read this book. You have nothing to lose–apart from your anxiety."
—Carl Honoré, author, In Praise of Slowness and Under Pressure"

Better go and buy it myself now.