Free-Range Kids.....They Taste Better

There are times I just let my kids roam. They wander out of my sight and I don't freak out. I chit chat with an adult and realize at the end of the conversation my children are no longer surrounding me. I don't get hysterical. I look around and sometimes wander a bit and eventually find them. I haven't really lost one yet. For example, tonight at The Celebration of Learning at our local school I "lost" Kate and Hank several times but always found them moments later playing or dancing nearby. True, someone COULD have snatched them up while I wasn't watching, but we were surrounded by so many watchful parents I'm sure somebody would have noticed if anything fishy was going on. My kids are pretty smart and independent and resourceful. I want them to be kids and have a little freedom. There are times I've come close to losing it (being hysterical), when losing a child in a public place (like at the Exploratorium in San Fransisco last month when I lost Kate. I found her VERY near the front entrance playing with the iron filings have the time of her life. I even joked with the employee checking tickets about making some extra money keeping an eye on her while we wandered around. Ha, Ha, Ha I laughed out my nervous energy instead of screaming while gauging whether or not the guy was contemplating reporting me.)

I guess what I'm getting at here is I don't want to be a hovering parent who never lets my kids out or my sight and that is why I love this website introduced to me by my wonderful friend Ruth: Free-Range Kids. And that is also why I wish I lived out on a farm where my kids could truly roam and be alone and find some true freedom. Oh, to be a farm girl. Someday.

What do you think? Do you have Free-Range Kids?