Some Kids Don't Want To Be Organized

How Can Our Kids Really Understand The Moral Complexities Of Being Alive If They Are Not Allowed To Engage In Those Complexities Outdoors?

We Attempt To Remember Our Collective American Childhood, The Way It Was, But What We Often Remember Is A Combination Of Real Past, Pieces Reshaped By Bitterness And Love, And, Of Course, The Video Past--the Portrayals Of Family Life On Such Television Programs As "leave It To Beaver" And "father Knows Best" And All The Rest.

Rather Than Accepting The Drifting Separation Of The Generations, We Might Begin To Define A More Complex And Interesting Set Of Life Stages And Parenting Passages, Each Emphasizing The Connections To The Generations Ahead And Behind. As I Grow Older, For Example, I Might First See My Role As A Parent In Need Of Older, Mentoring Parents, And Then Become A Mentoring Parent Myself. When I Become A Grandparent, I Might Expect To Seek Out Older Mentoring Grandparents, And Then Later Become A Mentoring Grandparent.

Being Close To Nature, In General, Helps Boost A Child's Attention Span.

Natural Play Strengthens Children's Self-confidence And Arouses Their Senses-their Awareness Of The World And All That Moves In It, Seen And Unseen.