Alex Heberling

Today on BoingBoing I found a wonderful blog: Free Range Kids.  This is the kind of parent I hope to be should I ever royally mess up and end up with a child on my hands…  I was absolutely a free-range kid growing up, which most certainly contributed to my independence and creativity.  Kids these days are entirely too sheltered and saran-wrapped, and while I know that all overprotective parents truly have their kids’ best interests at heart, or think they do, sometimes you just need to cut the umbilical cord and let your kid ride around the block on their bike a few times.

A huge thank-you goes out to my parents for raising me well.  They may not have let me watch The Simpsons or Ren & Stimpy growing up, but they let me stay outside until the streetlights came on without feeling the need to tag me with a homing chip lest I fall and stub my precious little toe.