Hope you have some good plans (even if they include simply relaxing) this weekend! I’m planning to fully enjoy every minute of Saturday outdoors — it’s supposed to get up to 54 here in St. Louis! Also looking forward to having the boys home on Monday and spending some time with a friend and her girls.
Totally unrelated, but wanted to share — my grandfather is about to turn 98 years old! He has been eating an avocado every day for years now… I’m convinced he’s onto something, so I’m trying to get on board. This week I had avocado on toast with sea salt and crushed red pepper and it was so satisfying (and delicious).
Also on my mind, this article by the Post on a highly thoughtful couple of parents who found themselves being investigated for child neglect for letting their children walk home from the local playground. Definitely worth a read.
Have a wonderful weekend!
My mom and I were just talking about this article before I left for work. I cannot even fathom how angry I would be. And the fact that the children were questioned at school?
I hate the idea of raising my children in a culture of fear.
I feel like you mentioned reading Last Child in the Woods awhile back, and that really did so much to shape my opinions about child raising. Fear does stop me from allowing my children to do all sorts of things; however, it isn’t the fear of them getting hurt or abducted that is foremost on my mind. It’s the fear of getting in trouble for teaching my children to be independent and self-sufficient and aware of their surroundings without me at their side.
Also relevant is the latest episode of This American Life (the one called Batman). One, it introduces a very interesting new show called Invisibilia. Two, the TAM episode is all about how our expectations and thoughts about other people affect the way they act, in essence when we parent with fear we rob our kids of very valuable learning experiences. And it appears that the latest episode of Invisibilia is actually about fear and behavior. All very chewy food for thought.
Batman episode from TAM: http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/544/batman
A couple more related thoughts now that I’ve seen your WashPost article. 1. The Wild Trees is an awesome book on tree climbing researchers. 2. The TAM/Invisibilia piece is even more closely related to your risky play piece than the kids walking home from the park piece! 3. Sometimes I feel like there is even fear-mongering coming from pieces about how free-range parents get “caught by CPA and the police” because it makes it seem scary to let your kids practice and assert their independence (even thought that may not have been the angle of the piece at all).
Good food for thought, Adah! I look forward to listening to the This American Life episode — love that show. Thank you!
Avocados are the best food, no cooking and the kids even love them. The only down side is I seem to be really challenged at getting a good one. And they are expensive, so it kills me when they’re rotten. Hope you guys are enjoying the weekend!