I have just finished reading Free-Range Kids: Giving Our Children the Freedom We Had Without Going Nuts with Worry, by Lenore Skenazy. It was written by the mom who allowed her nine-year-old to ride the subway solo in New York. Apparently, she's been dubbed "America's Worst Mom." ...No, my ex-wife is not named Melissa. But my ex-wife did once file a similar complaint against me in court for letting my kids out of my sight at Costco.
Skenazy describes a friend of hers who was in line at Costco. The woman in front of her forgot something and asked the author's friend if she wouldn't mind watching her baby for a sec, who was in the shopping cart, while she ran to get the item. The woman "came back two minutes later, thanked Melissa, and that was that. One mom helping another."
But that's not what Melissa saw. She saw a wildly irresponsible woman entrusting her precious little boy to a total stranger who could have easily turned out to be a psycho killer buying bulk paper towels and Goldfish crackers --- John Wayne Gacy in a dress.
You can view a recent Skenazy lecture at Yale here.
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