How much are you willing to risk to let your kid realize a dream?

There are parents like me, who thought it was risky business when I recently sent my 3-year-old daughter about 100 ft. away to a neighbor’s house while I watched from the front door instead of walking with her to ensure her safe arrival.

And then there are the parents of a Dutch teen who let their daughter sail around the world by herself for a year.

I don’t know how a parent gets from letting a kid walk solo on a sidewalk to sail solo around the world. But I think it’s safe to say I’m not a parent who would ever make that kind of leap when it comes to the safety of my kid.

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I recently viewed this short video with tips on babyproofing your kitchen so it’s safe for toddlers yet still aesthetically pleasing. The expert in the video recommends putting those little plastic latches on the inside of your cabinets so as not to create the ugly eyesore of a big white lock on the outside. I wonder if the expert has kids? Or has ever been around kids? Or knows anything about kids?

I know, firsthand, that it takes an average of three tries before a toddler figures out how to depress those little childproof latches on a cabinet. There are other options out there for locking your cabinets.  One that I had in my old house was a sturdy lock that could only be opened with a strong magnet.  I thought it was great!  Until my child found the hidden magnet and lost it, but not before using it to turn the TV all sorts of pretty rainbow colors.

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Will photos like this be against the law?

New Jersey lawmakers are considering a bill that would make it illegal to photograph anyone else’s children without parental consent. The bill was created in response to complaints from Ringwood NJ residents that a 63 year old man had been photographing young girls at the town swimming pool. When the man was questioned by police, he explained that he was taking pictures of the girls, aged 8 to 10, because he found them “sexy”.

It’s hard not to reflexively look for a way to prevent creeps like this from doing creepy things like that. But is a law against all pictures of other people’s children the solution?  Continue reading »

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As parents, it is up to us to set boundaries for what our children are allowed to do as they progress on their way to maturity.  We don’t let them cross the street by themselves before a certain age, we don’t let them play with matches, and we give them ineffective plastic knives to use on the food we’ve already cut up for them.  Of course, every parent has a different view of what children should be allowed to do at each stage of their life.  Some parents let their kids climb trees, some parents let their kids build ramps for their bikes and skateboards, and then there’s Gever Tulley.

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I used to babysit for a three-year-old who spent nearly every minute of her life at her mother’s side; she spent her days playing with her mother, napping with her mother, and eventually falling asleep while her mother rubbed her back.

While eating, the little girl often spit out her food, letting it dribble down her chin; rather than telling her not to do this, her mother sat beside her with a napkin while she ate, poised to wipe up regurgitated food. Continue reading »

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