So @Undisciplined made this post #764710 to share this video https://odysee.com/@johnstossel:7/free-range-parenting-a-mom%E2%80%99s-guide-to:a?r=8T2xqWjtafHWYGxQBSsrbw1wQPm7sWRq
TLDR: We don’t give kids unsupervised play anymore, and it’s so bad there’s body cam footage of a police officer arresting a Texas mother for letting her 8-year-old son walk by himself home from school.
So anyways of course all else equal I agree that you gotta give capable kids space to grow their independence.
I also listen to the Stroller-Coaster parenting podcast and halfway through a Tennessee mother shares her story
She has a pumpkin farm and a parked tractor 🚜 hooked to a flat trailer bed with a bunch of tiny decorative style pumpkins on it. It’s parked next to a fish pond.
She’s of course watching her kids. A four year old daughter and one year old son. They’re jumping up and down on the trailer, and she’s loading pumpkins in the trailer. She’s being careful to not trip on the fish pond.
It’s the parenting challenge. Watching kids and letting em play, but also getting things done.
Anyways her mind wanders and she checks her phone thinking about her sister in Florida and the hurricane coming because she worried. Looks like her sister should be safe. But then she flips to instagram and she’s scrolling a few minutes. Then she hears her daughter let out a blood curdling SCREAM!
She looks up from her phone to see her daughter pulling her baby brother out of the pond feet first with his head still underwater.
She gets him out and after a couple coughs he’s ok. They’re all ok. She shares on the podcast her lesson is when you’re watching your kids turn off your cellphone you can NOT let yourself get distracted by social media.
But I’m listening and I’m thinking of @Undisciplined and I’m like, what isn’t this a success story of free-range kids, kinda? Obviously they are too young to be playing in a dangerous situation unsupervised, but the daughter was a hero! So brave to cry for help and actually try to pull her brother out from the water.
TLDR: I’m grateful for ~alter_native @DesertDave and @grayruby suggesting I write in Parents corner because being a parent is tough and I’m grateful for the support and sharing resources 🫡
Love,
Shameless Uptail Woof Woof 🐕