Wow. I just learned a term today that I wasn't aware existed: Helicopter Parenting. And after reading the article linked below, I feel dismayed. I feel sorry for these 'victims' of helicopter parenting.

OK, Helicopter Parents - It's one thing to care about your child's future and their pursuits of success and happiness, but come on - let them do it them damn selves! They will appreciate it more and will gain something valuable that you've so far deprived them from(or tried to, at least) - life experience!

I remember being fairly 'pushed along' by my parents, and hated it at the time, but I now realize that their constant pushing to make me a better person has done just exactly that. My parents may have even done it more than other parents when I was young and in their care, but by no means did they hold a candle to some of the activities mentioned in the article. And they certainly let me make my own choices and experience my own failures/successes after I moved out and went to college, something I'm very thankful for. They gave me the tools to succeed, it only seemed natural to use them :)

The really sad part of it for me is that this still seems to be going on (for some) well into their college years and beyond - I think it is appropriate to mentor and instruct your children on doing what it takes to achieve a goal or be successful at something, but this is far beyond the call of parental duty, in my opinion. Link to story

Go to this article, and you can see the top ten signs of being a 'Helicopter Parent' - to me, this looks more like a top ten list of "why your lazy-@ss kid needs a kick to the seat of his/her pants," but maybe I'm a little harsh in my opinion. Thoughts?