Three Web Sites That Urge You to Let Your Kids Be Kids

Ever since I wrote about the mom who made her preschooler do worksheets at her brother's Friday night baseball game, believing it would give her an edge over the other kids, I've been on the lookout for adults who let kids be kids. With travel sports for children as young as six and the pressure to turn out perfect offspring, it's refreshing to hear that maybe all this hyper-parenting isn't really necessary. Here are three of my favorite voices of a new-old style of parenting:

Free Range Kids (http://freerangekids.wordpress.com/)Syndicated columnist Lenore Skenazy's blog calls for the end of the Supermom era. She writes, "We believe in helmets, car seats and safety belts. We do NOT believe that every time school age children go outside, they need a security detail." Thoughtful, refreshing and sometimes controversial, Free Range Kids asks why our children can't have the free-to-roam childhood we had. Skenazy sets out to dispel the myths behind our safety-obsessed culture while assuring parents that it's okay to just let your child play.

The Compass (http://www.marybethhicks.com/blog.aspx) This no-holds-barred blog by "Bringing Up Geeks" (Penguin, 2008) author Marybeth Hicks promises to find "the true north in parenting, politics, media and culture." The mother of four writes with humor and wisdom about raising your children to be a little uncool, thereby protecting them from what she calls a "grow-up-too-fast" culture. Hicks laments a world where "Disney stars can enjoy role model status even aftertheirnude photos are circulated world wide." And then she provides her own common sense prescription for letting kids be kids.

CoolMom.com(http://coolmom.com/) Don't let the name fool you. This isn't a web site about how to look hot while driving carpool, though blogger and TV Guide Channel's "The Fashion Team" host Daphne Brogdon certainly is telegenic. Rather, CoolMom.com is an often humorous ode to retro parenting. In her vlog on helicopter moms, which will soon appear on The Dr. Phil show, Brodgon rants about overprotective, germophobic parents. "There's something to be said about how my mom parented, which was opening up the door in the summer and saying 'Get out! Come back when it's dark.'"

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