Are You A Helicopter Parent?

Helicopters are fascinating types of aircraft. It can take off and land vertically, move in any direction, or remain stationary in the air due to its design. As helicopters hover overhead, helicopter parents supervise every aspect of their child’s life. Are you a helicopter parent? 

All helicopter parents share one characteristic: being overprotective. Some may be driven by fear of injury, while others may worry their kids won’t be successful without their constant attention. Here are four signs of overprotective parenting.

Controlling choices. You are very likely to be an overprotective parent if you’re perpetually making big and small decisions for your child without allowing them to think through the options themselves. It’s important to give children space to think about their options independently. We can advise them, but ultimately, we want to encourage them to be independent thinkers with self-assured opinions.

Overreacting to failures. If you’re enraged over the sporadic bad grade or dismayed when your child gets rejected from an opportunity, you need to take a deep breath and let it go. Overreacting to occasional failures is not helping you or your child adapt and grow.

Fear of injury. Certainly, nobody wants playtime to end in tears, but trips, spills, and scrapes are a part of childhood. It’s a good idea to bite your tongue occasionally if the child isn’t in imminent danger. 

Intense focus on achievement. Parents feel the urge to schedule tutors and sign their kids up for all of the enrichment activities, but focusing exclusively on academics and measurable achievements could be detrimental to your child’s mental and emotional well-being. We need to let our kids be kids. 

Your child already has accomplishments. Take the time to celebrate them and enjoy the simpler moments that you and your child are missing out.

By Parcsen Loke, Family Life Coach, Centre for Fathering. 

Food for Thought: : Do you find that you are making every decision for your child? What will it take for you to let your child make some of those decisions independently?