I have been using the phrase "free range kids" for years to describe my parenting style (I have even committed it to print several times with full awareness that it is considered "odd").

FYI - at this moment, there are 3 children outside jumping on the trampoline AT THE SAME TIME AND I"M NOT EVEN WATCHING THEM! not only that, they walked to the store and back - a 1 mile trip - ALONE! and one of them skateboarded without supervision!!!

they are smart and cautious and have had the opportunity to learn things by actually experiencing them first hand. they'll be just fine.

this does not surprise me at all - it is thought that syneasthesia (the overlapping of the senses so that one "sees" music, "hears" colour or "tastes" words to name just a few sensory associations)is common in very young children.

it has been suggested that a re-grouping of brain neurons - quite possibly to respond to language learning - makes the experience much more subtle. I had strongish syneasthetic associations when I was a child - they are all but gone now.

naming the colours would differentiate them in specific ways that could over-ride the earlier, murkier impressions.

better skip the cheese, TSA Gs

I was at the Montreal airport on Sunday and was forced to throw out the little tub of cream cheese I'd bought to go with my still-warm MTL bagels. the container was open (I'd eaten some of it). I showed the contents to the security officers who could plainly see it was cheese, not a plastic explosive.

no go.

had he cream cheese been spread ON the bagels, it would have been fine. cream cheese in a little plastic tub = obvious security hazard...

I sat in the waiting area and ate as much as I could stomach and threw the rest away.

huh. there was nothing like this when I went to Nica in '88.... just the pre-Catholic Daniel Ortega in power, contras with guns on the hilltops, goats in the streets, and knock-off goods like "Best" toothpaste in the markets in Managua.

FYI Snifty - it's my understanding that Bluefields is also one of the few coastal villages where the Garifuna language is still spoken (an African / Carib creole), the reggae-ish pop would probably be parranda.

for a great example check out the work of the late Andy Palacio, who died far too young last month of a massive stroke and heart attack. the album Watina is a gem - the "Buena Vista Social Club" of Latin America.

my kids love to pass their fingers through flames...and that's a trick I'll let them do. that being said, I almost lost a house to fire caused by linseed oil on old rags, so I'm in no hurry to try this at home.

we had a skunk that would do the same thing... let's face it, they're fearless because they're packing nature's own chemical warfare...who's gonna mess with a skunk?

he/she was charming company (no-one ever got sprayed), but we made sure all the cats' shots were up to date just to be safe.