Helicopter Parents (The vice of over-parenting)
The other day I went for a haircut. Seated on the chair next to mine was a child of about four years and hovering around him was his mother. I was amused to see her continuously instructing the hairstylist as to how to cut and with what instruments. Just as the stylist moved she would move around the head of the child, supervising each and every strand of the hair getting styled. I could obviously feel the discomfiture of the stylist who was struggling to balance his work with the incessant instructions of the mother. Little did I realize that the child too was getting uncomfortable till he loudly shouted: “Mama you please go”! A hush fell in the salon but the mother – a cool cucumber just asserted “You don’t understand anything. You just keep quiet and let me do my work!” The child was obviously bullied to silence. That was a helicopter parent in full regalia - a classic example of what Time magazine once described as "Over Parenting" This incident reminde...