Free Range Kids
FREE-RANGE kids
How to raise self reliant children (without going nuts with worry)
By: Lenore Skenazy
If I had to sum this fantastic book up in a few words it would be that this book will teach you how to CALM DOWN! Many of you probably know the premise, Lenore is the lady who let her son ride the NYC subway… alone. And she seriously caught a ration of sh** on talk shows and in the media for doing it too. Which is too bad. But, she turned her experience into a blog which (a la Julie and Julia) turned into a book. Which was gifted to me by groupie-Kim in Illinois, which I read on a flight last week all in the house that Jack built. Now, in the unlikely chance that she sees this write up, or in the off chance that anyone reading this knows her… please tell her that I want to be her BFF. Or at least have coffee.
Part I of her book introduces you to her 14 Free-Range Commandments:
Know when to worry
Turn off the news
Avoid experts
Boycott baby knee pads
Don’t think like a lawyer
Ignore the blamers
Eat Chocolate
Study history
Be wordly
Get braver
Relax
Fail!
Lock them out
Listen to your kids
Part II presents the Free-Range Guide To Life, which addresses:
Safe or not? The A-Z review of everything you might be worried about ranging from (some of my favorites) Animals, being eaten by, Death by stroller, Germs, Halloween candy, Lead paint, Licking the batter, Plastic bags, Raw dough, Sun, the, and Walking to school.
She wraps up by talking about Strangers With Candy and then concludes by addressing (hinting at the The Feminine Mystique) “the Other Problem That Has No Name… and its solution.”
But her piece de resistance is on the back page… a Free-Range Membership Card for you to clip and save for your child and friends.
I’d love for you to buy this and read it. I’d love even better if after buying and reading, we actually started implementing her suggestions. Find friends who are like minded and start hanging out with them. Go deeper than the quotes and sound bites she offers and take some of her “baby step” suggestions and start living a Free-Range life. You and your family will be better off for it. And a helluva lot calmer.
Lisa Murphy
Ooey Gooey Inc.
www.ooeygooey.com
(800) 477-7977