Lenore Skenazy, a New York Sun columnist left her 9-year-old son, Izzy, at Bloomingdale’s in midtown Manhattan with a Metrocard for the subway, a subway map and $20, and told him she’d see him when he got back home. Read Skenazy’s essay on why she did it. And read how the subsequent fallout got her on the Today show here.

I’m not about to join the chorus of voices calling Skenazy “America’s Worst Mom”. Her purpose is admirable, really. Skenazy says she relishes memories of being allowed to get around by herself as a kid and wants to her child to have the same.

But is she putting her kid at risk in trying to make a point? Aren’t there other ways to build life skills in a 9-year-old? Sadly, my feeling is that age 9 (or even 10, 11, 12, 13 and, probably, 14) is just too young. Skenazy isn’t “America’s Worst Mom”. Maybe just America’s most nostalgic mom.