Yes, I Watch The View

Well, this isn't a plug for The View however, I do watch it when I can. Today, they had a guest that I wanted to stand up and cheer for. She wasn't very popular though. This is her recent book...



She is a journalist and writes a regular column. She was criticized for allowing her 9 year old son to travel on the subway after he had asked and she and her husband had fully prepared him. He did well. And it was a success.

You know, I am so heartbroken and shocked by the recent stories of precious children taken from their homes, and suffering horrible unspeakable things, and then being killed. I can not begin to imagine what a mom, dad, family, goes through...


But, are we in our attempt to protect our precious children, raising paranoid, frightened, in need of ( even more) therapy when they are older, kids?

Am I just delusional? Are we really living in much different times? One thing that the author said that was very interesting was that according to studies, crime is the same now as it was in the 70's. She said that if we grew up in the 1970's, playing outside, in our neighborhood, with neighborhood kids, that it is just as safe now as it was then.



When my brother and I were growing up, my mom always had us playing outside if the weather permitted. Basically, everyday, all day. My brother looked out for me. Friends looked out for each other. We had neighborhood wierdos. Yup, we all knew to stay away from their houses, and we did. But I have great memories of playing outside, with my friends...


This is a picture of the difference between a typical young persons body in the 50's, and what they will be in 2010. Yikes!!! When I was a kid,(and I say this lightly, a friend that was a little chubby, was unusual. 95% of the kids in the neighborhood were slim.) Why? We were all running, riding our bikes, playing hard ALL day. We didn't have access to the fridge ALL day, whenever we felt like it. We were well fed. Never hungry. Mom always had something good for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. But I never remember going to the fridge whenever I felt like it. When we went to bed at night, (7:30 in our house,) we fell asleep. Right off.

Running around, playing outside without moms constant supervision was never an option growing up. Raising 7 children, she had things to do. Laundry, a house to keep clean. Meals to make... Our job was to behave, be polite, and play outside. And you know what, we did.



Parents have to make their own decisions for their own families. I just hope we can all take a deeeep breath, while we do so, and remember to let our children be children.

Hugs from Maine