Let Grow Blog

By Guest Author

Read Time: 3 minutes

Columbia B-School Professor and Wife Learn a Powerful Lesson in Adventure—from Their Kids

Jenn Olayon and Adam Galinsky are leaning into our motto, “When adults step back, kids step up.” Adam is a social psychologist and a professor of leadership and ethics at...
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By Lenore Skenazy

Read Time: 5 minutes

My Kid Fell Out of My Arms and Needed Brain Surgery! Can I Ever Be Normal Again???

Find out! Ten years ago, I got this letter from a mom who’d been through…a lot: Dear Lenore:  I consider myself a fairly laid back mama, and I’m always of...
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By Lenore Skenazy

Read Time: 3 minutes

Where Do Mall Rats Go When They Can’t Go to the Mall?

We talk a lot here about how much kids need some time on their own. And we encourage parents – depending on their neighborhood, the age of their kids, yada...
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By Lenore Skenazy

Read Time: 6 minutes

A Mom, a Movement, and a Play Club

Nicole Cooper is a dietician who became a police officer. Not a career path you see every day! Now she teaches at a police academy in Northern California and is...
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By Lenore Skenazy

Read Time: 4 minutes

Are Birthrates Down Because Parenting Demands are Up?

Many a truth is to be found in a Reddit rant. Here’s one that really got us thinking by a Redditor named KnightErrant21. He was happy to allow us to...
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By Lenore Skenazy

Read Time: 3 minutes

Don’t Treat Nature as a Snooty Museum

Is there a “right” way for kids to play in nature? A mom dropped us a note to say: At my son’s pre-k, he and another boy were picking leaves...
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By Let Grow

Read Time: 4 minutes

Five States Considering “Reasonable Childhood Independence” Laws

Kids have the right to some independence, and parents have the right to give it to them. That’s why Let Grow is thrilled that legislators in five states are hoping...
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By Lenore Skenazy

Read Time: 3 minutes

Stop Turning Every Parenting Moment Into a Pop Quiz

Parents Magazine's "5 Ways to Support Your Child's Preschool Curriculum" is not just annoying; it is WRONG. So, is the whole idea it’s pushing: Kids are dumb as dumplings and...
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By Lenore Skenazy

Read Time: 4 minutes

Is Peace of Mind for Parents Even Possible?

Here’s the wise note from a mom who remains anonymous – and a little nervous. This, she notes, is the human condition. It’s a condition that cannot be changed, even...
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By Lenore Skenazy

Read Time: 4 minutes

What Kids Learn When We Let Them Bicker

My theory: One reason parents/teachers/adults are spending so much time hovering over kids is that they are spending so much time hovering over kids.  What I mean is: It’s a...
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By Lenore Skenazy

Read Time: 2 minutes

Child, 5, Cooks for Whole Family (And Becomes World Famous)

Just how capable are kids? Super capable. Astoundingly capable. Unbelievably capable – when they're allowed (or required) to rise to the occasion. So, from time to time, it makes sense...
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By Lenore Skenazy

Read Time: 3 minutes

3 Pieces of Advice for the Mom of a Scared 4th Grader

From time to time, we get asked for advice on when to let go/let grow. Often, the query involves a difference of opinion between husband and wife. But the issue...
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By Guest Author

Read Time: 3 minutes

How I Learned to Stop Worrying About Future Regrets: Winter Edition

Readers: At Let Grow, we are human. Sometimes, we look at the forces arrayed against kids being kids and have to sigh. And then we get a letter like this!...
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