ATLANTA — Adopting a free-range philosophy doesn't mean being completely hands off, but it does mean giving your child more freedoms and responsibility. Here are five steps in that direction:
1. Turn off the TV and have your kids go outside to play and entertain themselves. It's OK to supervise, but no hovering.
2. Give your child chores around the house. A 2-year-old can help sort laundry into whites and colors. By 4, kids can help set the table. And by second grade, children can make their own lunches and take out the garbage.
3. Let your child drop an afterschool activity that you pushed if the child really doesn't want to do it anymore.
4. Let your middle-schooler crack — and cook — eggs.
5. Stop googling "toxic" and "childhood" and "guilt" and other words that cause you to worry.
Source: Author Lenore Skenazy
Helena Oliviero writes for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. E-mail: holiviero(at)ajc.com.