Snow Plow Parents

[SWTXBelle]

I teach at a private school, and I am stunned at the parents who seem to resent it when their children actually have to WORK. Seriously, they don't want their children challenged - which boggles my mind. What are they paying $14,000 a year for if not to have their children challenged so they can truly achieve? But no - complaining, complaining, complaining. I had a mother who told me that her precious was stressed out with high school applications (!), so even though she had been given A Tale of Two Cities on November 12th to read by January 8th, she couldn't be expected to have read it because she took Christmas vacation off, and the first weekend back, and then she had missed so many dance lessons AND SHE CAN'T MISS DANCE, so, um, yeah.

What do you say to that?
I just sat there . . .

[HQWest]

Originally Posted by SWTXBelle

I teach at a private school, and I am stunned at the parents who seem to resent it when their children actually have to WORK. Seriously, they don't want their children challenged - which boggles my mind. What are they paying $14,000 a year for if not to have their children challenged so they can truly achieve? But no - complaining, complaining, complaining. I had a mother who told me that her precious was stressed out with high school applications (!), so even though she had been given A Tale of Two Cities on November 12th to read by January 8th, she couldn't be expected to have read it because she took Christmas vacation off, and the first weekend back, and then she had missed so many dance lessons AND SHE CAN'T MISS DANCE, so, um, yeah.

What do you say to that?
I just sat there . . .

Ask her if she wants to talk to the counselor about testing to determine her daughter's lack of reading readiness or not reading at her grade level?
(there really ought to be a sarcasm smiley....)

[ADqtPiMel]

Originally Posted by Katmandu

I have friends and colleagues with collage aged children and they call/text multiple times a day about the most inane things. Constantly. Both children and mom. It's bizarre. They know every minute detail of the child's day... Food, classroom, what they wore, who said what to whom..... When my best friend and I are out shopping or for coffee, she will take or send at least a half dozen calls from young adult children. Fwap, fwap, fwap.

See...my parents are essentially the opposite of helicopter parents. I've had zero financial assistance from them since graduating high school (worked full time through school), and they never cared at all what I did with my time or my money. But I do text with my mom every day, about really stupid stuff. I live 500 miles away and I like talking to my mom about the normal goofy stuff we talk about in person.

ETA -- I don't identify as a millenial, more like Gen X, though I'm on the cusp.

[KSUViolet06]

I had scholarships for most of school, but my dad footed the bill for stuff like dues, meal plan, etc. We talked like, bi-weekly (my dad couldn't helicopter me from CA.)

I saw my mom once every 2-3 weeks even though I lived 30 min away.

I'm actually impressed at how little my mom meddled in and checked up on my life given my age (I was 17 until Christmas break) and the fact that I was living on my own in dorm for the first time (but then again, I was a rather good student in HS so she had no reason to believe I was like, skipping class/not doing work/etc.)

[AGDee]

What I find funny about when Hypo calls me for advice is that I never give her any. I might ask questions that help her draw her own conclusion, but I figure she's going to do what she really wants to do. She just wants validation that it is ok. She has sent me texts saying "Is it better to skip a class to finish homework for another class or to turn in the homework late?" I'll ask "which one impacts your grade more? Is there an attendance requirement for the class you want to skip? What is the penalty for turning in something late?" She wants me to tell her to skip class. I'm not going to say that. She comes to her own conclusion- which is, of course, skipping class. Really? You're calling your mom for permission to skip a class? I'm not giving you that, but I'm encouraging you to evaluate the consequences and make your best decision.