Helicopter Parents - This One's For You

There is nothing that grinds my gears more than watching a child’s formative years be burned away by a hovering parent that doesn’t know when to step back. As a victim of that type of parenting, let me tell you, it is not conducive to a productive young individual. If a child never has any small freedoms during that time when they are supposed to be growing up and learning what it means to be an adult, how are they supposed to know what they can and cannot physically, mentally, and willfully do. For instance, if a teenager wants to go to the movies on a weekend with some friends and, as the taxi driver, which is all you should be, you decide to watch the movie with them, how is that teenager supposed to learn what kind of person they are when they are by themselves. Leave the kid alone. Let them be them, by themselves, with their friends. Another great example is giving a teen some small tasks to handle on their own. This is not always looked at as a freedom, but it really is. Think about it. They are “free” to do a task without being micromanaged. The parent is giving them the freedom to do the task how they think it needs done and the only input they get is the final “okay” or “try again” from the parent. This is formative in helping a young adult learn how to work a job. They are not always micromanaged at a job. They are given the task to be completed and then the manager decides if it is good enough. If the teen never learns to think on their own, because the parent is there walking them through every step, then the teen never gets the hang of doing a job by themselves. This can easily get them fired. It is really simple advice helicopter parents – if your child is around 11 to 16 years old, they need to start learning what it means to be a person standing on their own two feet. It is the only true way to grow into an adult. Because there may come a time where mommy or daddy isn’t standing there ready to fix what’s broken. So let them go to the movies by themselves. Then they can decide what they want to watch and how it affects them. Let them decide when bedtime is. I know as an adult, I go to bed at a decent hour, so that I can get up and be productive the next day. Let them do the chores their way. You may not always agree with how it got done, but maybe, in the end, the final result was good enough. Overall, the role of a parent is to teach kids how to be an adult and this cannot be done if a few small freedoms aren’t allowed to creep in to the day-to-day routine. Eventually your kid will start to volunteer to be independent. Just remember they will be fine, even if the helicopter takes off. But that is just one man’s opinion. Thanks for listening to me ramble. I appreciate it. See you next time.