The Only Thing We Have to Fear...

I picked up a parenting magazine and was bombarded with warnings. Article on a 6-year-old with arthritis. Letter to the editor about a kid who broke his leg on a slide. Ad for a group called Parents for Window Blind Safety. Something cautioning against Vitamin D deficiency, another one listing the dangers of sun exposure. An article by a mom who was proud of herself for getting all her kids through childhood with no broken bones. Is that success?

I was so annoyed with all the fear mongering, I sent the kids to play in the gully. Without sunscreen. Without a GPS device, cell phone, first aid kit or helmet. They came back because it was too hot. Have you heard of the "Wussification of America?" Well, I know what that looks like! You see it when you force a kid to spend 10 minutes in the sun without a popsicle.

We have a clubhouse in our/my parents' backyard that my dad built. It has a big deck on top without railings, windows with no glass that look out on a 15-foot drop, and numerous hornets' nests in the ceiling. One time, I built a ladder with my brothers so we wouldn't have to climb trees and jump from the branches to get to the second floor of the clubhouse. While I was climbing up the ladder, a rung broke and I cut my arm on a protruding nail. I still have a three-inch scar.

When my kids discovered the clubhouse hidden in the scrub oak, Coco and Bill decided the little structure was a deathtrap not fit for their grandchildren. They paid to have it renovated with railings and a floor that wasn't rotting through. (Thanks, Clint!) There is little to no chance of getting hurt now, but I wonder if that's 100% positive. Where are these coddled little kids going to learn to try and fail, to get hurt and get up, and to fend for themselves? When I asked my dad about why the clubhouse used to have windows we could have fallen out of, he said, "I hoped my kids weren't dumb enough to fall out of a window." Kids were given a lot more opportunities to test their mettle a generation ago. Golda almost called DCSF Tuesday when Scott suggested she walk the half mile from ballet to voice lessons. I mean, there are traffic hazards along that route, not to mention exhaust fumes, UV rays, crazy people at the bus stop and rated R posters in the video store window. I should know. I used to walk that same street four days a week from school to ballet. The only danger I fell victim to was spending too much money on candy at RB's One-Stop.

I think I need to book a weekend for my kids with Survivorman. I'll prepare them by letting them go outside without knee and elbow pads, holding scissors with the tips up. Running, even. Or walking fast.