Oh, boy, am I impressed with a little column in The New Yorker in the Raised Eyebrow Department about a very special woman, Lenore Skenazy, who has started a movement called “Free Range Kids”, an organization that is (to quote from the group’s Web site: “Fighting the belief that our children are in constant danger from creeps, kidnapping, germs, grades, flashers, frustration, failure, baby snatchers, bugs, bullies, men, sleepovers and/or the perils of a non-organic grape.”
Is that just the most refreshing thing you’ve ever heard?
But, Kid, guess what? You may have NO MORE HELICOPTER PARENTS HOOVERING AROUND YOU! Note the use of “hoovering”, a word in our house vocabulary that was borrowed from a very old friend, no longer with us, alas, whose grandmother used to say “hoovering” for “hovering” and so it stuck.
I wrote in an earlier blog about the bio market in Austin, Texas that has a sign saying, “Mothers. this fruit has been washed twice, but if your kid is going to eat the fruit right after you finish shopping, we are happy to wash it again.” Can you imagine? Twice-washed and it still needs cleaning? Oh, boy.
Mama likes the 5-second tenet: If it drops in the street and you can pick it up in less than five seconds, it’s clean! Eat it.”
So I hope you’ll take a look at the link above because it’s a short article and charming and there is a statistic about kids getting kidnapped that will really make you sit up and take notice.
Mama’s going to write the organization to ask for little cards that she can pass out to mothers in markets and shops who give her suspicious looks when she comments on their cute kids (or doggies or whatever) or talks to the child itself about whatever subject comes up–many mothers ridge up and don’t respond at all except with an icy semi-smile. Mama never ran into this behaviour some years ago so it’s a new thing. It’s called FEAR. Ungrounded fear, as it turns out. Of mama? The child-napper? Hah!
Believe you me, mama has NO intention of kidnapping ANYONE’S kid, no matter how cute he or she is, haha.
She has ME. And I certainly can take the bus by myself or walk home from the park.
I just choose to snooze instead…
Loulou, the mom says she agrees about letting kids be kids. Sheesh…the kids these days are waaaay over-protected.
Well, it’s good to see a few kids still running around being kids instead of following so many fear-induced rules.
Well, it’s good to see a few kids still running around being kids instead of following so many fear-induced rules.
A while back we did a post that was about free range kids…the parents were arrested and their kids were taken away! Thoughts?
Noodle and crew
Well, please tell me which blog. That’s outrageous, but ‘free range kid’ can mean anything from total neglect to just letting your kids make their own decisions about many things.
I think the movement was in reaction to the HORRIBLE helicopter parents one reads about in the US. Hovering, hovering, wanting to do every little thing for their kid and the kid ending up without any survival skills at all!!! I know these parents and they are deadly. Also boring at dinner parties, haha.
Loulou, that’s an amazing thing – Free Range Kids! But it’s a bit sad that we now need such a thing. In the UK the fear is hysterical and ever growing – just up the road from us is a Farm Park – this is where kids get to pet farm animals etc. Recently those in charge made a policy to refuse entry to any adults who did not have children with them. The implication being that unless you had children with you, you must be a danger to them. The park has a specialist raptor section that attracts as many adults as children, so this caused some local offense and also hit the MSM.
The ape says this rule would have allowed quite a few of the UK’s serial killers in to the park unquestioned.
The world of apes is bonkers Loulou
Luff
Mungo
& Jet
As always, you get right to the point. Yes, overprotective is so, so bad for EVERYONE. And puh-lese—with no kids you’re DANGEROUS? Gimme a break….
We heard of free range chickens (yum, yum) but never free range kids. There was a time when life was freer and more fun.
You can say that again. You can say that again.