There's no bubble wrap in this house

I think I have a pretty laid back parenting style, especially when it comes to letting my kids learn about and explore the world around them. Not only do I believe that over parenting or "helicopter" parenting is not a healthy way to raise children, but I just don't have the energy to be that vigilant all the time. Bumps and bruises are inevitable, and as long as there's no blood (or not a lot of it), I think it's part of life.

So I was heartened to read an article recently about a move towards more nature-oriented, risk-tolerant playgrounds. There's even the newly formed International School Grounds Alliance, which is "working to enrich children's learning and play through improving the way school grounds are designed and used." In short, there's an argument that we've made playgrounds too safe, and if we want our kids to be less sedentary and use their imaginations more, we need to reintroduce risk elements, especially nature-focused ones, into our school yards and playgrounds. We're lucky enough to have some half-decent playgrounds in our area, but just imagine what fun our kids would have with some huge boulders and tree stumps in there, too. (If you're interested, you can read the whole article here).

Sadly, it's not all progress. I recently received an email promoting knee pads for babies and toddlers. Seriously. They come in 9 great colours so they can get through crawling and toddling in style. Oh please. Best of all, they apparently give you peace of mind. Gimme a break. I mean, I hate seeing bruises on Ryan's adorable, chubby little knees, but this is the height of ridiculousness. Next thing you know someone will invent gloves to protect their tiny little hands from all the nasty ol' germs out there and perhaps some type of mouth guard that will prevent them from putting unwanted things in their mouths.

If you ask me, it sounds like our little ones are in danger of experiencing some very boring trips to some very boring parks. Let's not let that happen.