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Huron Expositor, 2014-04-09, Page 7Bubble wrap kids Naomi Pelss Director of Seaforth Co-operative Children's Centre, mother of three There was a show on television on Slice Canada called Bubble Wrap Kids that I used to watch with great interest. It was hosted by Lenore Skenazy, nicknamed "World's Worst Mom" by the media for letting her nine-year-old son ride the New York Subway alone. On the show, she would help kids over- come their fears, anxieties, and lack of independence (usually created by their parents) to become self-sufficient chil- dren. This was particularly hard for the parents to watch, as their love for their children and fear for their safety had grown into an irrational overprotected parenting style. By the end of the show, Lenore taught parents how to loosen the reins and give their kids the free- dom they need to grow up with inde- pendence, while still keeping safety as a main priority (Wildpedia). I am guilty of being a bit overprotec- tive with my own children. "Be careful" is a familiar phrase at our house. I have even heard myself say, "You might fall and crack your head open." Really? Is that really going to happen? Well it hasn't happened once in the last 10 years. My rational parenting side tells me to relax. Instead of helping my children to gain independence and confidence, I am just creating fear in their minds with imagery of their cracked skulls on the ground playing through their heads at every turn. My 10 -year-old desper- ately wants to walk home from school and exert more independence. Well what is stopping her? Her parents. Fear. But, when I reflect on my own child- hood, it was much different. I spent a lot of time playing in the neighbourhood with my friends unsu- pervised. We played for hours outside and knew when it started getting dark we should head home. If we had a problem, we figured it out. We turned out just fine. Simpler times. Is there more crime today or do we just hear about it more? Yes, horrible things happen to innocent people. They did when I was a child too. We maybe didn't hear about it as much. We can't live our lives in fear. We must have some faith that we will be okay and remind ourselves that the odds of horrible things happening to our chil- dren is low. Taking risks is important in life. I believe we cannot keep our chil- dren in a bubble. We can love them and teach them and protect them but it must be done with some element of risk. I am not suggesting we abandon all rules. Children still require protec- tion and guidance. But children also need to learn skills of how to cope when faced with potentially dangerous situations. We need to let go of some of our irrational fears as parents. I am most certainly going to give it a try. To Risk by William Arthur Ward To laugh is to risk appearing a fool. To weep is to risk appearing sentimen- tal. To reach out to another is to risk involvement. To expose feelings is to risk exposing your true self. To place your ideas and dreams before a crowd is to risk their loss. To love is to risk not being loved in return, To live is to risk dying, To hope is to risk despair, To try is to risk failure. But risks must be taken because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing. The person who risks nothing, does nothing, has noth- ing, is nothing. He may avoid suffering and sorrow, But he cannot learn, feel, change, grow or live. Chained by his servitude he is a slave who has for- feited all freedom. Only a person who risks is free. This week at St. James Taylor Rolleman, Grade 4 St. James school news Here are some things St. James School is learning about. The junior and senior kinder- garten class is learning learning reading strategies and popcorn words. The senior kindergarten/grade 1 class is working on student interest writing and there teacher Mrs. Mccann takes pictures of the students playing and puts them in their high interest writing books and they write and draw about it. The grade 2/3 class is learning about reptiles and 2D geometry. The grade 3/4 is learning about sand dollars and how they relate to Easter and they are writing adventure stories. The grade 4/5 class spelling and doing their times tables. The grade 7/8 class is learning about autism and fractions. This is what St. James school is learning about make sure you read next week. 20 PILLS A DAY JUST TO idie DIGEST . YOUR FOODA cystic fibrosis is so hard to swall To learn more and support cystic fibrosis research, visit cysticfibrosis.ca Wednesday, April 9,2014 • Huron Expositor 7 -CD CD gt Cal 14 lb •e-,11) Cystic Fibrosis irT Canada Breathing life into the future' Thit. v4.,E921c Unimcne Hi613er1 MjiuI Fere Inturontit. Ccirroorry wilf ei,11- mos 24.4:* refund from surplus cheques ro policyficklers that are in gaxl 51114-Air4. "am Bc.an:1 d DIFP=110.1$ C1FIF050111=1 13 10% rerkind InDfri rIL or -S498,0210. 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