"Reality"?

Recently I was contacted by a casting agent for a reality tv show.  They were looking for a Free Range Family to be a part of their "Extreme Parenting" show.  We went through a couple steps with them, giving basic information but eventually decided not to participate.

When we got the offer, I was really 50-50 on the whole thing.  Part of me thought it could be fun, and kinda cool to see ourselves on tv like that.  Plus, I figured if we could maybe reach a couple of people and show them that Free Ranging it with their kids is safe and ok and even good it might be worth it.  The other part of me recoiled at the thought of having our lives on display, and feared what sort of crazy editing might be done to make us look more "extreme".  

I honestly don't believe the way we're raising our kids is "extreme".  I think what we're doing is how kids should be raised.  We want them to be confident and independent, and we're raising them in a manner that we feel will best accomplish that.  I'm sure people out there disagree with what we do (or don't do), and that's fine.  To be honest, I wasn't that concerned with America hating us (if they did, I honestly don't think I'd really care or be that bothered by it), but the intrusion into our lives was what sent me over to the "no" side.

They wanted to come film us for 7-10 days, which would be a huge disruption to our lives.  Would My Big Guy be allowed to go to school on those days?  What about speech therapy?  While I am a Free Ranger, I'm also a stickler to routine for my kids.  Having people here filming us is definitely not part of our routine and Lord knows how that would affect my guys.  

I also feared how the editing of this whole thing would play out.  Personally, I am a reality tv fan (sort of).  I love me some Housewives of Wherever.  I have watched enough of them, and their reunion shows to know that the editing team can be a bunch of assholes.  They edit stuff to create drama and controversy and and it's not really "reality" anymore.  It's some weird created world that doesn't really accurately depict your life, and what you stand for.  I worried that they'd try to make it look like we put our kids in danger, which is NOT what Free Range Parenting is all about.  The safety of your kids comes first, always.  But it's closely followed by letting them try new things, challenge themselves and gain confidence and independence.  When hours of footage of that are edited who knows how it would turn out - we might look like we just let our young children wander the streets or something.

I 100% believe in raising my kids Free Range, but I don't want other people to get the wrong idea about it.  I can handle if people hate me, whatever, join the club.  What would bother me is if people decided Free Range Parenting was an even worse idea than they already thought, and I have a feeling that's how it would be portrayed on the show.

We're also pretty private people, and I just wouldn't want the intrusion into our lives.  Hell, I get mad if someone rings my doorbell and wants to interact with me - I'd probably go nuts with an entire film crew in my house.

I'm glad we decided against it, but it is one of those things I'll always wonder about - what would our reality show episode have looked like?

Would you let a film crew into your lives for "Extreme Parenting"?