Are We Overprotecting Our Kids to Death?

Two scenes from Mexico, where my family just spent a week’s vacation. (Skip the envy. Nice weather, yes, but my husband slipped before we left and spent the whole time on crutches. Meantime, this was the general tenor of our kids’ conversation: “I just saw a stingray.” “No you didn’t.” “I did too!” “You just [...]

Free-Range Kids Book Gets Its Cover — Thanks To You!

Perhaps you will recall, readers, a few months back when I asked for your input on the cover for my upcoming book, “Free Range Kids: Giving Our Children the Freedom We Had Without Going Nuts With Worry.” Overwhelmingly – 10 to 1 — you voted for the girl on the wall (versus the aviator boy). [...]

Let ‘Em Eat Dirt

Once five friends forward you the same article, it is time to share it with the rest of the world. This one was by the New York Times health writer, Jane Brody, and it stated, quite simply: Dirt good. Well, it didn’t state it quite that simply. Ms. Brody works for The Times, after all. [...]

If mom loved you best, do you end up a happier adult?

Last night I helped one of my sons do the dishes, but I didn’t help the other son clear the table. Time to reserve a shrink appointment for the table-clearer sometime around 2017? Or perhaps an appointment with the parole board? Turns out: No. Neither. A brilliant study by researchers at Temple University looked at [...]