So what’s wrong with free range children.

It just drives me nuts these days with hovering parents. Apparently they think their spawn are made of freaking candy glass. We all know the Karens and the Kens that hover over every movement.

FUCKING STOP IT. It’s not normal and it is not healthy. Yes I am Gen X one of the last free range kids that were allowed. Mind you I grew up in a small town in Canada so that may have some weight but I doubt it. Our parents had to work they all had jobs and shitty shift work. The best my brother and I ever got was maybe a neighbour girl to watch us in the afternoon

At worst we had my aunt who was practically blind and loved to smuggle things over the border in her purse. Side note if you have one of those and want to smuggle over some booze I totally recommend one.

Otherwise my bother and used to dance and play in our back yard in the morning dew. And If you believe that I have some land in Estonia to sell. We were little maniacs, climbing trees, running amok and basically trying to poison every one in the neighbourhood with our dandelion concoctions.

It was a grand time of riding bikes and learning our close family. We did have boundaries as such and were only allowed to go so far with in a few blocks of the house. But man those were a great few blocks of freedom.

Brent and I would ride up to our uncles house a bit out of bounds but he always had good fruit for me and good candy for Brent. My uncle was always a character always had the coffee on and a bottle open for whom ever would drop by.

In some substantial ways he was more of a father to me than my dad. Because he was mostly always there. Sure it was a almost a local joint where grown men came to talk and drink coffee and Five Star. But it was a safe place and when my Uncle was out working I could always find solace in my public library. My cousin worked in the downstairs children’s section so I could always brush up on the latest dinosaur finds. I credit her for my love of language and my early reading age. I was reading and talking by age 3.

So I guess the whole point of this post is give your children some room to grow. If you don’t take it early they are going to rip it from your hands as they grow anyway. But that was a different time and in a small town.

All I know is that I loved those bike riding days winning races and having the wind in my hair and the mud in my toes.

Thanks for listening

Bob