Dear Lenore,

You are my new hero. A lovely, breath of refreshing air. I heard about you for the first time last year from an article in "The Week" magazine. I was so intrigued I soon learned that you had written a book. I read it. It was awesome. I admit, some things truly do still scare me to death and I would definitely say I am in the baby step phase for a good portion of things. But deep down I think I have always felt (and still feel) that a lot of what "scares" me is really unfounded garbage brought on by the almighty media machine. One example of this? That awful Nancy Grace. But I don't want to talk about her.
I have already made some significant progress. Of course "progress" is a relative term.

Anyway, here is a list of my progress:

• I let my 5 year old daughter go to the restroom alone at Wal-Mart not once, but twice over a few days time.
• This same 5 year old returned our shopping cart to the aforementioned store. This included crossing the parking lot and street. I was watching the whole time of course and she knows to look both ways. Was she ever proud of herself!
• I have always let my kids play outside by themselves (ages 5 and 9) and I live smack in the middle of an urban area in the Salt Lake City Valley. You are spot on when you say, "They don't know your kids like you do." I trust my girls. They're no dummies. (Of course I do check on them!)
• Plans are in the works for my kids to start walking to school when the weather warms up a bit. I honestly thought my 9 year old would resist but she is actually excited and is looking forward to it! We live approximately 1/2 mile from my kids' school. They are driven to and from school everyday.
• My kids are allowed to walk or ride their bikes to a friends house who lives on the next block. Wow!
• We have a trampoline with out padding (yikes!) or that netting (lame!) that is supposed to keep the kids from falling off when they are jumping. Actually, this is not progress because I grew up with one as did all of my neighbors and relatives so really it is more of a staple if you ask me. I am happy to report that none of my childhood friends, neighbors and cousins were permanently injured from a trampoline. We sure did have a lot of fun and got a lot of exercise though!
  

One of my biggest issues is the cell phone. I love my cell phone like you love yours. But why oh why do parents think kids need them? I will never understand. My 9 year old begs and pleads to get one. I will not give in. I told her when she is old enough to get a job to pay for it herself (like I do mine) then she can go right ahead! I loved your article: Buy a Phone, Become a Baby . My favorite part of that article: "In fact, it's possible that children in a cell-connected world make out worst of all. This morning, not five minutes after I'd left for work, my 11-year-old called from the kitchen to ask if he could have banana bread for breakfast.
Kid — I'm not there . Eat ice cream and marshmallows. Make a vodka smoothie! Go wild or be a good boy, just pretend it's 1990 and I'm unreachable. With all of us connected all the time — "Mom, I'm on the bus," "Mom, I'm two blocks from home" — independence never gets a foothold."
AMEN!! I love my kids but I want them to grow up and be, well, grown ups! Independent grown ups at that! So no, I will not get my kids a cell phone. End of story.
Keep up the good work and I will keep up the baby steps. I will also be slowly informing my friends and neighbors about the 'Free-Range Kids' movement. I say its a movement!  I have gotten pretty good about spouting off the statistics from your book about kidnapping, drowning, car accidents and so forth to whoever will listen. If you could only hear me. My next goal is to see what I can do about the no running rule on the playground at my kids' school. Seriously, no running? Wish me luck!

Sincerely,

Rochelle