Confessions of a Blogaholic

Sometimes I think the worst part about my job is dealing with parents. Having never been the parent of a teenager myself, I can't begin to imagine how tough of a job that is. I bet it's extremely difficult to figure out when to step in, when to hold their hands, and when to kick their butts out of the nest so they can learn to support themselves. I work with teenagers...parents have 13-14 years to cut the umbilical cords before their children reach my classroom, but I am constantly astonished at the number of parents who would rather hover directly over the heads of their children than let them take some responsibility for themselves.

When your teenager can't ask his/her teacher a question his/herself and instead runs home to you and makes you (the parent) email that very question to the teacher, something is wrong.

When a teenager can use the excuse "I didn't understand" and you (the parent) attack the teacher when, in fact, your child doesn't understand because he/she was zoned out the entire class period, something is wrong.

When you (the parent) email the teacher to say you want to know why your child has an A instead of an A+ (God forbid your child JUST be an A student), something is wrong.

If you (the parent) email the teacher more than 4 times a week about a question that has already been answered 20 different ways from Sunday (by said teacher) AND is posted online for your easy viewing pleasure, something is wrong.

If you EVER do your child's work FOR THEM--whether you think you are helping them or not--something is VERY wrong, and you should reassess your life goals and ambitions for your child.

I hope I am not a helicopter parent. I hope I know when it's time for me to step back and let my child be more responsible. I know it's hard for parents to accept that their children are growing up, but there is clearly a difference between pushing your child to be their best and making them completely unresponsible for their own decisions. Let them fall out of the nest, let them learn that they need to flap their wings in order to be successful, let them learn to grow up--you cannot be there holding their hands forever.

...but what do I know...I just work with 120 of them a day and see the direct effects of the parenting they receive at home.