If there's one thing we know about parenting, it's that every mom or dad can be summed up perfectly by a single label. (Yes -- of course! -- we're ...

Welcome to the best and worst Free-Range Kids stories of 2012.

"Well, you know, Molly, I don't like secrets. You're 4 and secrets are not okay."

"I Won't Supervise Your Kids" ™ is different from soccer and ballet because the kids have to figure out what to do with themselves.

What was your "wandering range" as a child? What is your child's now? Does this give you second thoughts?

Like any parent, at first, I was alarmed, just as the "alert" intended me to be. There was a man at the bus stop? And a mother noticed him and tried to talk to him, but he didn't respond? What the heck?

Are parents as a whole more protective these days? And where is the line drawn between good protection (seat belts and not letting your kids drink bleach) and being overprotective to where it is stifling for them. I think about this sometimes.