apple juice

In short: we are being brainwashed with fear and it makes us worry that everything we do as parents may be putting our kids in danger. That’s why we judge other parents so harshly, and why we keep our kids cloistered like Rapunzel. Don’t get me wrong. As founder of the Free-Range Kids movement—a group of people who believe in giving kids more freedom and responsibility—my philosophy is not to throw kids out of the car (sorely tempting though that may be at times). But Free-Range parents do believe that kids are more capable and competent than we give them credit for. And that, after teaching them basic safety, they need some freedom to develop as smart, happy, responsible humans. Not crazy freedom. Just the kind of freedom we had, back when parenting decisions were not the stuff of national news.

from: Time to Stop Judging Other Mothers and Ourselves by the author of Free Range Kids

As far as I’m concerned the only people who get to judge my parenting are my parents… and my kids, when they are 18.

wow, this is apropos:

Grandma’s on the Computer Screen

That they were a thousand miles apart, their weekly visit unfolding over computer screens in their respective homes, did not faze either one. Like many other grandchildren and grandparents who live far apart, Alex and Joe Geosits, 69, have become fluent in the ways of the Web cam.

I just purchased a webcam for my grandparents so we could start video calling in a few days…