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Let Them Figure It Out ~ The DC Moms

The Gladiator Arena

I am a slacker-parent. In the years since I first claimed my slacker title, Lenore Skenazy created the term “Free-Range Parent” which not only sounds better than “slacker,” it comes with a whole philosophy attached, which you can debate with the other parents at your parenting group, proving that even if you’re not climbing the slide with your kid, you spent real time researching the reasons why you shouldn’t climb the slide with your kid. Sometimes I do call myself a free-range parent, but the truth of the matter is I’m a slacker. I would rather sit on the park bench and read a book, or commit that cardinal sin of parenting, play with my smart-phone, than climb the slide or push my kid on the swing. Back when my kids were in the “stick everything in their mouth” phase, I did put down my book long enough to take the mulch out of their hands and redirect them, but that’s about it. If my kid climbs too high on the playground climbing structure, or can’t figure out which fake rock to step on next at the climbing wall, my slacker philosophy lets me tell the kid to figure it out.

Read the rest at The DC Moms.
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  1. Thrift Store MamaApril 9, 2013 at 11:11 AM

    Thought provoking post . ..

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    1. Jennifer ThorsonApril 9, 2013 at 12:33 PM

      Thanks, TSM. And thanks for your comment over on The DC Moms. I chewed on that while I was walking to pick up the younger boy from school

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