Taking sorority helicoptering to a new level
 

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And how on earth did that mother gain access to all of those other email addresses to even send that email out?

(and the obvious answer to your question is yes, the mother of course had zero right or place to do what she did and her daughter, who should understand she is in her sisterhood for life, should unplug her mother's computer and hide her keyboard forevermore)

A helicopter parent goes to the source and bargains for her kid to get what the mom thinks the kid deserves (the moon).

In this case, the parent is just crazy.

The result is the same. Nothing has changed, and in both cases, the daughter would be completely humiliated.

Nice job, Mom.

You all do know this is a sockpuppet who is "protecting the innocent"...

I am still clueless as to what they are asking?

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Eh, only a kinda on the questions. They're common sense to me ( Yes and I'd roll my eyes, ask my chapter sisters if they got it, and comment in disbelief while clicking the archive button)

But I don't mind the story being posted anyway.

Assuming that it's a chapter that closed recently, if someone wanted to really find out who the group is, they could easily do so -- judging on the small number of chapter closings we have each year.

Okay. Ms ignorant here. What is helicoptering?

Helicopter parents...those that hover, hover, hover...they do everything for the child....they even go to job fairs for them, hand out their resumes, negotiate their employment contracts. Did you know hat some companies now have a parents hotline? They can call to make sure the child got to their first day ont he job, made it thru orientation, etc. ISn't that nice? (That's sarcastic, if you didn't notice!)

Dang... what did I miss? :(

Basically, hovering parents that refuse to let go and let their kids fall and make mistakes on their own.

Chapter closes, angry mom emails actives from other chapters.

I figure if this is inappropriate, a mod can delete it

My mom is pretty far from a helimom...in high school, if she wanted to know where I was, she called my friends or my boyfriend because she never had any idea. I was a responsible highschooler - worked 4-5 nights a week (which she could never remember) and stayed out of trouble, so she didn't see any reason to know where I was at all times...

BUT...when my chapter closed, she did write an angry letter to National.
Other chapters, though, not so much.

Sounds like basic details, Drolefille. That Mama has some issue with boundaries! So is this the "Fall of the Helicopter" like the Summer of Retro Recruitment? That could be constued more than one way! I don't know what some of these parents are thinking! AlphaFrog...what did your mom hope to accomplish with the angry letter to HQ? Was it just to let off steam, or did she petition for the chapter to stay open?

Gosh, what's up with all the heli-moms lately?? Seriously, it pisses me off to see crazy moms like that....why??

I'm less sick of the helimoms than those that keep crying that we're a big bunch of meanies who need to be nicer. We usually get a few each year that end up taking their ball and going home, but it seems like there's been a huge influx of those lately. And, honestly, it seems like it's those people who have been more or less respectfully corrected that go off the deep end. Those who receive full-on snark have just laughed it off like the rest of us.

Maybe its a sign that we should stop being nice? :p

Well, hopefully when recruitment ends (which I assume most schools are) things should die down...

What's even worse is helimoms crying that GC is full of meanies and tell people to get a life...lol...I mean, didn't the helimoms use to have their own fourms they can go to?

Do we know what university? It was just announced that one of our chapters is closing.

The helicoptering phenomenon is often a team effort. The child allows the parent to continue to cross normal parental boundaries because in the end the child gets what they wanted. If the child were to ask the parent to stop interfering then suddenly this child would be left to live by their own merit and could potentially face disappointment. It all goes back to doing what is right -v- doing what is easy. Crying to mom, knowing mom will take matters into her own hands, is all too easy.

She was petitioning for the chapter to stay open. It actually wasn't "angry" as much as a huge list of reasons why the chapter should stay open. There was definitely an overtone of resentment, but for the most part, it was reasonable.

WarEagle07, you hit it on the head.

That's happened to me, and to others that I know...we commiserate, and we try to resist the next time. It ain't easy.

And for the record, the only time I've felt REALLY insulted here was when someone thought I was that BA person.

Also, I thought HPRL was a state of mind. I don't want to go there. I am already on this site waaaaaay more than I should be.

Plus, it looks like I'm stuck with my user name. That's what happens when you try to be funny.

Now, I'm sorta sittin on the fence on this one. Seems like people on both sides of this one are getting a little outta hand. People need to be able to come on here and ask their question (even if its dumb) without being feasted upon by the sharks. If you don't like the question help them re-phrase it , point them in a direction to another thread or just ignore it. Just because you're a parent with a question doesn't make you a helicopter parent per se.

On the other side, parents, if your kid is going to go to college and join a fraternity or sorority, understand first that this is going to be an experience that you are going to have very little involvement in, even if you are writing the checks. It's their thing, let them choose their own friends and live with the choices they make. Love 'em, support 'em, cheer 'em on no matter what, and have a nice glass of punch on parents weekend. That's about the extent of it!

I don't think it's entirely fair to hold children responsible for the parenting techniques their parents choose. My guess is that most heli-kids don't realize the extent to which their parents are hovering. It isn't that these kids aren't bright or observant people; it's that that's just what they think parents' jobs are... because that's all they've known. So, while it is ultimately the kids' responsibility to ask the appropriate people the appropriate questions at the appropriate times, if they've NEVER had the chance to do that, it's no wonder they're lost. And, IMHO, there's no one to blame but their parents for putting them in that position.

I don't suggest that it is the kids fault but by the time they are in high school they are savvy enough to know that they can enable this type of behavior from a heli parent in order to get what they want.

The sharks don't feast on every newb on GC. Some parents come here and they're perfectly decent, ask good questions in a polite way and are very appreciative of the answers they receive.
Others come on here, ask stupid questions like 'what is the reputation of each sorority at State U' or blow a fuse because their kid got cut and start wondering whether that school is right for their child-over sorority recruitment!
I don't have any patience for the second kind at all. Ask a stupid question, get a stupid answer. And come on, we all know what the across-the-board stupid questions are.
The thread about ASU sorority reps was actually quite polite because the question was asked politely. It was only when the OP started getting in a snit over our answers that it started to become snarky.

For some reason, I doubt it's AGD at WKU.

As far as recent chapter closings, off the top of my head and according to what I remember reading on GC:

AGD-Valdosta State
DG-UCF
AXO-Simpson
DPhiE-UGA
SK-SDSU

I can't remember the others, but I know other GCers might.

Good to know. Not that my mother is a Helimom, I would place myself up for adoption if she got on a letter writing campaign

I missed the original post--could someone review it?

I know of a familiar sounding situation but it wasn't a mom, it was an alumna.

We closed a chapter over the summer.

Hasn't it been a while since SK at SDSU? And I haven't heard about it. So I doubt it's that one. (Not that I'd necessarily know.)

IIRC (and some GCers may remember that LiveJournal debacle), didn't they try to hold a special winter recruitment at the beginning of the year? I know the thread's here somewhere...I think they closed earlier this year.

They attempted to hold a special recruitment but things just didn't go well. They closed at the end of the spring I believe.

I remember the LJ thing. I guess it just feels like longer ago

Gotcha. My opinions about SDSU aside, I haven't heard anything about the incident, so I think SK is out.

OOooyeee... pretty much.... :rolleyes:

I'm with you and completely understand where you're coming from. to me, that one didn't come off quite as obnoxious as some others. Just seemed like there was some overzealous delight in the ripping and tearing of the flesh there yesterday that might be better saved for other more tasty snark bait!

and on that concept of parents wondering if they sent their daughter to the wrong school after she did not get a bid to XYZ or AB or whatever...well maybe the parents should wonder why they threw their kid in there if the major big attraction at that school was joining a A list sorority. When you start thinking like that, you need to re-assess your priorities!

Could someone fill me in on what the original post was? Apparently the helicopter erased it :rolleyes:

Collegiate chapter closes. Member's mother writes angry letter to actives from other chapters. Hear the rotor blades?

The letter also included a line or two from the nastygram, something along the lines of "they said sisterhood was for life. It's obviously not." Those weren't the exact words, but it was something like it. The OP also added her two cents on how the mother neglected to consider sisterhood as an alumna.