To the Editor:go perya

Re “Parents Should Ignore Their Children More Often,” by Darby Saxbe (Opinion guest essay, Sept. 15):

I very much appreciated Dr. Saxbe’s essay about underparenting. As a 20-year-old single mother working and going to school at the same time, I did my fair share of underparenting, by necessity.

If I had a college paper to write, my toddler would tag along to the library with me. If I had a class to teach, he observed. If I had a meeting to go to, he would roll his eyes, but still come with me.

I tried to “pay him back” with trips to the park, the museum or the hiking trail, where he would be able to engage in activities he loved too. It was a balance, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.

As long as he was healthy and safe, all was well. That is still my low bar to this day, with pretty much everything.

That poor, underparented kid is now a 28-year-old adult, who will say the greatest gift I gave him was the gift of being bored: unstructured time to read, think and just be.

Gina RileyWest Nyack, N.Y.The writer is a clinical professor of special education, City University of New York — Hunter College.

Ballistic armor companies are marketing protective products designed for the military to parents and schools. Some people see the items as unsettling but prudent; others find them infuriating.

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