It's V's latest trick to get from point A to point B by bear crawling. It's the funniest sight-this little boy on his hands and feet with a bulky cloth-diapered bottom stuck high in the air. It won't be long and he'll be walking on his own. In some ways, it would be nice but I don't know how ready I am for that just yet...
In other toddler news, V now has five teeth. The third top one popped into view just the other day. Gotta watch out cuz he thinks fingers and toes are pretty good for chewing on. With those teeth of his, V can get a pretty good chomp! Ouch!
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Friday, February 11, 2011
Free Range Chickens...I mean Children
I've been reading this hilariously common-sense how-to book on raising your children. It's called "Free-Range Kids How to Raise Safe Self-Reliant Children (Without Going Nuts with Worry). Lenore Skenazy, the author, wrote this book after being dubbed "America's Worst Mom". She wrote a newspaper column about letting her then-9 year old son ride the subway by himself. Once the column was published, she was asked to appear on all the morning news shows, where she was lambasted for being a bad parent. Instead of backing down and issuing an apology for an apparent lack of sense, Lenore started a blog (freerangekids.com) and wrote this book.
I love this book because she points out just how much society today has caused parents to wrap their kids in bubble wrap. There are knee pads so crawling babies don't bruise their knees. 14 year old boys are being driven home by the police from a park just a few blocks from home because they didn't have a supervising parent or a cell phone. Some schools are banning hula hoops-a hazardous toy because they can be swung around the neck, arm, or other bodily extremity or rolled on the ground. The purpose of the book is to show parents that it's okay to let your children be children. It's a great read. I'm having trouble putting it down. I'm finding that I'm doing pretty good already as a Free-Ranger. V is allowed to crawl around the house banging a spatula on pot lids instead of watching Baby Einstein videos, learn to walk without knee pads or a crash helmet, and his favorite toy (I kid you not) is a fly swatter. (Of course, we bought him a brand new one that was immediately labeled so we know not to use on flies.) There are a few areas that I could work on, but for the most part I'm there. If nothing else, I get a good giggle out of the antics of overreacting parents out there.
I love this book because she points out just how much society today has caused parents to wrap their kids in bubble wrap. There are knee pads so crawling babies don't bruise their knees. 14 year old boys are being driven home by the police from a park just a few blocks from home because they didn't have a supervising parent or a cell phone. Some schools are banning hula hoops-a hazardous toy because they can be swung around the neck, arm, or other bodily extremity or rolled on the ground. The purpose of the book is to show parents that it's okay to let your children be children. It's a great read. I'm having trouble putting it down. I'm finding that I'm doing pretty good already as a Free-Ranger. V is allowed to crawl around the house banging a spatula on pot lids instead of watching Baby Einstein videos, learn to walk without knee pads or a crash helmet, and his favorite toy (I kid you not) is a fly swatter. (Of course, we bought him a brand new one that was immediately labeled so we know not to use on flies.) There are a few areas that I could work on, but for the most part I'm there. If nothing else, I get a good giggle out of the antics of overreacting parents out there.
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