Thanks for the heads-up on the book, parenthood is a never-ending source of amusement.

I couldn't agree more with the wisdom of letting kids be kids. It's something we've completely lost sight of, and nowhere is that truer than in the suburbs.

I haven't read the book, but having spent my entire youth in the suburbs of Los Angeles, and having spent some time in the suburbs of Providence, which in reality is just a suburb of Boston, I can say this: letting kids just be kids is not always an option.

Or, in the words of Julius Caesar, "When in Rome, do as the suburban moms/dads do." Actually, he might not have said this.

Either way, as a former suburbanite, where hyper-parenting is alive and well, letting kids just be kids is a thing of the past. Parents in the suburbs take parenting very seriously, and this situation is exacerbated by the intense scrutiny and competition of your friends and neighbors.

And when everyone does things a certain way, it's not easy being different. Indeed, as a young child, being different can spell disaster, especially in school.

The irony of all this is that all this is that everybody agrees with the idea of letting kids be kids, as I'm sure this book goes a long way to promoting. Maybe it's just another step in the right direction.