Quote:
Originally Posted by carnation
Y'all cut your parents some slack, though.  Parenthood is rough and you're forever wondering if you're doing the right thing. Yes, even if you have as many as I do. |
I do try to remember that most people are trying to do the best they can and that sometimes we all make mistakes. But the difficulty in parenting doesn't excuse craziness or people who want to mess with your professional life for a tiny gain for their kids.
And I really do see it several a year. Fortunately, it's not often directed at me personally, but nutty sports parents, nutty grade grubbing parents, nutty band parents really sort of start to destroy your faith in humanity sometimes. And sometimes, people really do need to be told that what they are doing is inappropriate or even wrong.
(Now, not all helicopter parents lack ethics like the folks I mentioned above. Some just can't let go in any way or think that sparing their kids any failure makes them good parents. They are just misguided, but not evil.)
But some people really do cross the line into unethical or immoral behavior. Just because your kid is involved doesn't make everything you do on their behalf right. Just because you kid's feelings are hurt doesn't mean he or she has been attacked or victimized. Just because you fear a negative outcome doesn't mean you should intervene. We need to try to get parents to conduct themselves accordingly.
But I have no idea what that means when someone announces that "I'm a helicopter parent."
I suspect that you were supposed to turn it in to a chance to compliment her. "On, no, I think you are just very positively involved. Just because they go off to college doesn't mean they quit being your children."
When really we should say something more like, "you might be able to get counseling for that."
Hybrid Mode
