Strollerderby : helicopter parenting

Mom Charged for Calling Son 49 Times a Day

JeanneSager — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 15:31:00 GMT

You can love your kids. Just don't LOVE your kids so much you start stalking them.

In a case of helicopter parenting gone absolutely sky high, a seventy-three-year-old Austrian woman has been charged with stalking her son after two straight years of calling him as much as forty-nine times a day for two and a half years.

That's an average of twice an hour! Break it down to just waking hours, and yikes!

The woman says she isn't able to talk to her son or daughter and has never met her fifteen-year-old grandchild. And she didn't think there was a reason for that? You've got to wonder what kind of smotherer she was when her kids were living at home. Did she chat them up through homework time and make them report in when they wanted to go to the bathroom?

I used to be a big phone person, and I still have one aunt who I can talk with for a straight three hours on the phone (with repeated interjections from my three-year-old and her four-year-old and seven-year-old, mind you). But that's not every day - or even every week.

What can a mother and child have to talk about forty-nine times in one day? We don't even talk to our spouses that much if you think about it - we might say more than forty-nine sentences, but "honey, can you get me another roll of toilet paper?" is hardly worth dialing out about.

Now that I'm a parent, I have a lot less time for talking on the phone, and this guy has a fifteen-year-old. What about you; do you talk to your parents more or less now that YOU'RE a parent?

Image: VBHComm (not stalker grandma)

Why Do Parents Cheat at the Easter Egg Hunt?

JeanneSager — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 20:35:00 GMT

They're apparently one of the most foul creatures on earth - the parents who help their kids a little too much at the Easter egg hunt.

Excuse me while I cough this one into my hand - that was me, last weekend. I followed her around, hinting, "Honey, look to your right. No, your other right."

To be fair, it was FREEZING in upstate New York, and my daughter had spilled a bottle of Yoohoo all over my winter coat the day before. So while the other parents stood outside wearing down-filled parkas, I was wrapped in my decidedly spring weight poncho, my fingers jammed in my jeans pockets while I whined like the little kids to the mom who set the whole thing up. My daughter is also only three and a half - of all of the kids present at the birthday party, there were only two younger than her, including the birthday girl's little brother. I didn't pick any of the eggs up off the ground, nor did I drag her around the backyard. But you better believe I stepped in when she had five eggs and six more to go to get to her eleven (the number put out for each kid by the mom organizer) to offer up some big hints.

So I read this story in the Daily Item about overbearing Easter egg hunting parents with a little bit of self-loathing. Just a little - because to be honest, I was much too cold to do any heavy duty helicopter movements. Whirring around would have required removing my hands from my pockets.

But I have met this kind of parent, the one who not only instructs their kids as to where to find the eggs but picks them up FOR them, and will yank an oblong piece of plastic with a bunny tattoo inside out of the hands of a two-year-old. And celebrate their massive victory!

The Easter egg hunt brings out the competitive streak in normally docile parents, the type who instruct their kids on helping old biddies across the street. Suddenly, their kid needs to gather some three thousand eggs, and who cares if little Jimmy from down the street has a single one.

The best part of our weekend hunt at the birthday party was the eleven egg limit per kid. Letting them have a goal of a certain number makes it more challenging, and it ensures no kid is left behind. But I can tell you my kid wasn't going to get to eleven without a little help. So is it wrong that parents step in? Do you help your kids?

Image:SagerScenes

A Nation of Wimps

Adrienne Martini — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 14:30:00 GMT

Storytime! Grab your mats and blankies and listen close. Once upon a time, there was a college prof at a large state school who had one of her students corner her after class.

"Professor Martini," the student said, because that was his instructor's name. "Can you move the test on Wednesday?"

"No," said the professor, because she is mean.

"Then can you talk to my mom," the student said, holding his cell phone out. "She thinks that I have too much to study for on Wednesday and need to have something moved."

It's a true story, kids. Scary, isn't it?

But it's a story I keep coming back to when I read pieces about helicopter parenting, like this two-part interview with Hara Estroff Marano, author of Nation of Wimps: The High Cost of Invasive Parenting. Part one is on Crabmommy's Cookie blog. Part two is on Crabmommy's personal site.

I want to wave away all of Marano's points about hypervigilence and invasive parenting. Then I see myself trying to intervene in my kids' lives. And then I have conversations with my college students like the one above. Then I hang my head in shame.

So do you think we're becoming a "nation of wimps?"

Photo credit.

Helicopter Parents -- Now With More Spying Capabilities

Madeline Holler — Mon, 05 May 2008 18:36:00 GMT

Ugh! Please don't let me become one of these!

The New York Times ran a story over the weekend about parents who, in short, need some hobbies. Because instead of macrame and collecting antique cookie tins, they're spending their time, energy and money on spying on their kids' every move -- you think I'm saying that metaphorically, I'm not -- at school.

Schools are adopting one of the scads of software programs that allow parents to go online and check out what grade Maddie got on her history test that day. Some programs will send alerts to Mommy's cellphone. One mom prints out her kid's daily grade report -- highlights the shitty grades and lays it all out on Jr.'s desk -- yet, goes ahead and asks him what he got on his test. Isn't that some kind of domestic entrapment?

Oh, come on, you say. They're a great way for parents to keep track of pending and incomplete assignments. True! It's far too much to expect the actual students to learn to manage that -- and to suffer the consequences when they can't. Parents can also log on to see whether a kid was late or absent from class, and get updates on any discipline issues. Those programs build the parent-teacher dream team!

Go ahead and say it -- I'm too old-fashioned. I might as well send my kids to a one-room school house, so resistent am I to adopting these modern, necessary kid spying tools. I shunned the nanny cam as well. We just kind of trusted our babysitters and listened to our kids.

What's your take? Are these programs they key to your child's success, or pretty much a guarantee that the professional workforce 15 years from now is going to be filled with idiot Americans who can't make it to the board meeting without their aging mother's encouragement and/or admonishments?

Helicopter Parents Make Boomerang Kids

makeitadouble — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 15:30:00 GMT

A generation of Helicopter Parents has in turn raised a generation of Boomerang Kids whose career paths follow a wide arcing curve that is ultimately leading them back to their point of origin; their parent’s homes.

An unstable economy, a weak job market, student loan debt and sky-rocketing housing costs have all been identified as contributing causes for this trend of nearly 60% of children returning to the nest, treating the family home like a free hotel and staying up until 3 am watching Adult Swim and Robot Chicken, but previous generations who haven’t been mollycoddled every moment of their life have had to deal with harsh times and financial adversity and you didn’t see them asking Mom to pick them up some Rogaine while she’s at the store.

Articles offering advice on how Mom and Dad can live in domestic harmony with their twenty-somethings like getting them to pay rent, agreeing on household chores and not waiting on them hand and foot may be necessary for some families, however it’s not too late for those of us with young children to stop Helicopter Parenting and start parenting like some other form of aviation like a Cessna light aircraft, the kind used for skydiving. Imagine 18 years of child rearing where instead of hovering and overprotecting we teach our kids to freefall and pull the parachute chord on their own; it’s easy if you try.

Maybe then we’ll be comparing the next generation of kids to some other archaic weaponry like a slingshot or a catapult; once launched the projectile travels further and further away from its point of origin. Who’s with me?

And if that doesn’t work, we can all just turn off the lights, crouch down and pretend we’re not home.

(photocredit:www.jonkeegan.com)

Man Without Kids Tells Parents 5 Dangerous Things Their Children Should Be Doing

makeitadouble — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 21:02:00 GMT

The lives of children 30 years ago were far riskier and more perilous than the lives of children today. It was almost as if our parents raised us all with a “If it doesn’t kill them it’ll make them stronger” approach. My life for instance was rife with dangerous activities condoned and oftentimes encouraged by my parents like riding my bike behind the DDT truck as it fogged our neighborhood to kill the mosquitoes, swimming in the water at the end of our street after a heavy rain backed up the sewers, and engaging in liaisons with French aristocrats.

Today though we live in an age of helicopter parents (for the record I’m classified as an AH-64 Apache Attack Helicopter parent) hovering and protecting our children in ways our parents did not; Which is why when I saw the title of Gever Tully’s presentation called, “5 Dangerous Things You Should Let Your Children Do” my paternal hackles went up in preemptive attack of whatever unsafe activities he was going to suggest I allow my children to engage in.

Despite not having any kids of his own, Tully contends that children today lead cosseted, mollycoddled and bubble-wrapped lives and should instead be free to explore the world engaging in dangerous and sometimes reckless behavior. As founder of The Tinkering School, where students return home bruised, scrapped and bloody by his own admission, Tully says if you let your children do these 5 (actually 6) things they will become stronger, smarter, more confident and safer as they learn to be in control of their environments. Some of the suggestions are:

Play with Fire – “Learning to control one of the most elemental forces in nature (fire) is a pivotal moment in any child’s personal history.” Another pivotal moment is learning to dial 911 after the living room drapes are engulfed in flames.

Own a Pocket Knife – “Pocket knives are sort of drifting out of our cultural consciousness. In a lot of cultures they give knives to children when they're toddlers like the Inuit children who use them to cut whale blubber.” Using a knife because it’s necessary for survival is a far cry from letting my son carry a blade in his pocket. Should he try to get through airport security with it as well? I’ll wait until a Beluga beaches itself on our front lawn before Jack get’s his switchblade.

Throw a spear – “Our brains and bodies are wired to throw things.” Yeah, like footballs, baseballs, and a college basketball game when your bookie says either you lose or he breaks your knees, but a spear? Well, I have seen some wooly mammoth tracks in the backyard lately; maybe it is time to break out the toggling harpoon.

Break the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA) – “Laws get broken by accident and they oftentimes need to be interpreted.” In other words, encourage your child’s illegal transfer of copyrighted music from device to device and user to user. Yeah….screw you Recording Industry Association of America.

Noticeably absent from his list were survive a moose attack, sneak into Victoria & Albert's Restaurant in Walt Disney World and shoot a bear.

Thank you Mr. Tully for all of your wonderful suggestions for how I can stop overprotecting my child. As soon as I get home tonight I’m going to give my son a knife, a lighter, the keys to my car and a $10 gift card to iTunes. Do you live in the New York area? It sounds like our kids would get along famously.

Oh, yeah that’s right. You don’t have any kids.

(Photocredit:www.theage.com)

What Kind of Helicopter Are You?

Amy Kuras — Sat, 29 Dec 2007 19:35:00 GMT

It's something we hear all the time –"helicopter parent." While it's mostly used for parents of young adults who just can’t seem to let go already, the traits are seen in parents of little kids as well. I took a music class with my daughter last winter, one of those Mommy and Me type things with lame songs and cutesy dances that little kids just love and parents typically grit their teeth through.

I actually met some cool parents in that class, what with the tooth-gritting factor, but then there was Her. She was nice enough, but would make condescending suggestions to the teacher about how she should run the class to give the kids "a more free-form, creative experience" and continue to sing along and dance enthusiastically well after her daughter had lost interest. Mind you, I am sure she disapproved of me as well as my daughter's favorite use of class time was to run around banging on a drum and shrieking, but still.

I'm sure we've all run into our own versions anytime we've gotten our kids into any sort of group situation. Maybe the heliparent might even be you. I know with my own unpleasant control-freak tendencies, I have to fight with myself to just let her be and do things her own way, even if there are bumps, bruises, or a few precious "enrichment opportunities" lost along the way.

I found this article from the Daily Telegraph in the UK rather funny, for that reason; instead of asking if you are a helicopter parent, it asks what type you are, because let's face it, we all have a little helicopter in us. I'm hoping to grow up to be a traffic helicopter, personally….

Illustration by Steve Brodner for Duke Magazine

Child Proves to be Ineffective Deterrent to Car Thief

makeitadouble — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 15:45:00 GMT

When it comes to my sons I am suspicious of everybody and over-protective to a fault; the type of concerned helicopter father who won’t let anyone other than immediate family babysit for them, who gives the stink eye and the Heisman straight-arm to over-zealous cheek-pinching hair-tousling strangers, and who goes so far as to take them out of their car seats even when I’m just putting gas in the car. But just because I don't leave my kids in the car while I go into a store doesn’t mean that there aren’t Dad’s out there who do.

Take Stuart Large of Melbourne, Australia for instance. He left his five year old son Noah in the car with the engine running while he strolled into the gas station to buy a newspaper. As he walked inside he turned around to see the car inexplicably speeding away. However, when the thief realized there was a child in the car, he dumped it in a parking lot. Noah was unharmed and (shudder) returned to his father. Though the whole ordeal only lasted 10 minutes, Mr. Large said it felt more like hours. "Every second was like, this can't be happening", he said. I don’t see why not Stuart. When you leave your child unattended in a running vehicle, pretty much anything is possible.

Not to be outdone here stateside, in Spokane a 5 and 7 year old were accidentally repossessed along with their father’s SUV. The father of the children claims he had just run into the store to buy ~~a 12-pak of Budeweiser, some scratch-off lottery tickets and a copy of Maxim~~ some doughnuts and when he came back out his 1996 Ford Explorer and his kids were gone. While he called the police, the repo man was also alerting the police and the children were (shudder) returned to their father. An officer involved with the incident said, “It's not illegal to leave children unattended in a car as long as it's not running, it's not outside a bar and the weather doesn't pose a danger.” Really? Well it should be. You can almost sense the officer wanting to say, “Besides, he left the windows cracked and the radio on so there’s very little we can do.”

Before you start chucking stones back at my glass house I freely admit that I am not a perfect father; far from it in fact. Yet, somehow even I know that I shouldn’t leave my kids in a car while I dash into a convenient store to pick up The Daily Racing Form and a box of Boston Cremes. That being said here are a few quick tips to help all you Fathers of the Year out there who insist on sullying the good name of Dads everywhere. Children are not anti-theft devices, LoJacks to help locate a vehicle after it is stolen, or Labrador Retrievers. Bring them into the store with you even if you’re only running in to get “doughnuts”, you can ogle Sarah Michelle Gellar’s vajayjay when you get home.

Now as punishment give yourself 20 lashes with a Slim Jim, but don’t forget to bring your kids in with you when you buy it.

Helicopter Parenting Might be Good for Kids After All

Karen Murphy — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 18:09:00 GMT

Okay, all you hovering over-protective parents out there...relax. You don't have to change, at least not for me (you never have to change baby, I love you juuuust the way you are, can I sing you a little song now about that? "Don't go changin'...to try to please me...."). But yeah, if you're still cutting up your kid's meat when he's going off to college, don't worry. He'll be totally okay. More than okay, in fact.

Yep, now they say that kids of helicopter parents thrive. So tighten up those apron strings a bit and let's talk about why:

Kids of helicoptering parents were said to "report higher satisfaction, more deep learning activities and greater gains on desired outcomes such as learning on their own and learning to work with people from different backgrounds." Yay for the parents! These are the folks who are in frequent contact with their kids, mostly via email and texting, less often by phone or face-to-face. It seems to me this is simply a throwback to an earlier time when multiple generations stayed in contact by sharing the same house. Not that I am in any way suggesting you encourage your kids to live with you while they go to college (though who knows, that may be the best option for all of you at that point).

I do have to give you the rest of the findings, though, in which oddly, those kids whose parents were in frequent contact had slightly worse grades than did the kids whose parents ~~didn't care about them~~ had less contact with them. Were talking only slightly, however, a difference of a GPA of 3.21 vs 3.31. Which should only make a difference to the most anal.

When I was in college? I think I talked to my parents, by phone, about once a month. In the days before email. Write a letter? Are you kidding? And I never went home. And look how I turned out!

Have We Made Our Kids Wussies?

Kelly Mills — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 13:35:00 GMT

This weekend I sat on a beach, which you might think would be a real relaxing thing. Actually, I spent most of the time completely tensed up and ready to spring into action as I let my daughter and another little girl play in the shallow part of the waves. I had already succumbed to temptation and given her the undertow-is-dangerous lecture, and now I just had to sit back and watch from ten feet away. I waved faux-cheerily to her from time to time and mentally reviewed all my teenage lifeguard training, using every bit of willpower I had to stop myself from rushing across the sand and demanding she play four inches from my towel. And I thought often about this great column on how we've engineered all the danger, and also a good amount of fun and learning experiences, out of our kids' lives.

When I was a kid I played in much deeper water, with much sharper objects, in much more perilous places, and with much less adult supervision than my child has ever known. Perhaps it's a mass helicopter parenting movement, but I do think our anxiety about our children falling and fighting and feeling has overtaken us. The only problem is that I'm still too freaked out to let her do the things I did as a child. All I can tell you is that step by step, with a first-aid kit hidden in my purse, I'm doing my best to put her a little more in harm's way. And I'll pretend I wasn't relieved when the other girls' mom, terrified of the water, made our girls come farther onto the sand.

If you'd like to relive your own near-death experiences, check out the comments here too.

Helicopter Parents Hover Over College "Kids"

Madeline Holler — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 13:11:00 GMT

I am married to a college professor and while you might now be imagining smudged reading glasses, hot tea and sweaters with patched elbows, don’t. Life with an academic involves lots of swearing, boring parties and a glimpse at unbelievable new failures in American education.

All that, and helicopter parenting. You get to see lots of helicopter parenting.

At the end of each semester, minutes after cheaters are busted, grades filed, and GPAs recalculated, the whirling blades descend into our home in the form of late-night emails. Parents write in defending the honorable intentions of Precious and Mr. Man. “She’s a hard worker,” Daddy writes of his plagiarist daughter. “Why the Gestapo tactics?” Or, “He must have misunderstood the directions,” Mommy argues on behalf of her flunking son. “He needs an A in this class!”

“Isn’t there any way they can retake the exam?” these baby-boomer parents demand to know.

It’s not just my husband, either. Anyone who works at a university has a story of an over-involved mother or father (or both). Here’s a report from ABC News about these helicopter moms and dads who – and I don’t want to give away the ending – have no idea that calling the university to complain about salt content in the chicken is, simply put, pathetic.

According to a researcher in the report, at least 60 percent of all college students have what fits the definition of at least one “helicopter parent.” That’s more than half. That makes it the norm.

The researcher breaks down that 60 percent into five neat categories: black hawk (angry, abusive, straight to the president's office); toxic (paranoid, researches child’s friends and roommates on MySpace, 24-hour web cam (!)); safety expert (anxious about school safety, forms emergency plans); consumer advocate (negotiates discounted tuition and fees); traffic and rescue parent (first sign of trouble heads to campus with supplies and tender hugs).

These parents argue that college is an expensive investment, and they have a right to protect it. I would argue they had 18 years to get it right and now it’s time to let Princess make a few phone calls on her own or have a private email account. Seriously, Scooter has got to figure out how to do his own laundry. And I can’t even process the fact that there’s a kid with a web-cam on his computer so mommy can check on him any time she wants. Did she see Sonny Boy nailing that hot chick from Psych? Is she listening to him fart? Reminding him to floss? Coaching him during those special moments with himself?

If you can get through the first video without calling your parents to thank them for nothing – no, really, thanks for leaving me the hell alone in college, Mom and Dad -- then watch the second one. It’s about parents who are firing up the Black Hawk so they can attend career fairs and job interviews, and negotiate starting salaries. Look at those phone boards light up when Bear can’t find coffee filters in the break room!

I know we Gen X/attachment/kid-as-equals/emotional IQ parents will be scrutinized some day for how we handle our kids' transition from childhood to adulthood. But somehow I think we sort of front-loaded our over-involvement by sharing beds, forming co-op preschools, working from home and nursing to the end of time. I think we're getting it out of our system in the early years, hopefully nudging them out of the nest when it's time and letting them figure out the rest.

Just shoot me now if I come even close to exhibiting these helicoptering behaviors. I mean, where will these parents show up next? Med school internships? Real-estate offices? The fertility clinic? When do these “kids” get a chance to try something and fail, and figure out how to pick up the broken pieces without Mother first fetching a pair of safety goggles and work gloves? The first time Junior's dentures go missing at the nursing home?

Image: Duke University magazine

Bucket Head or Genius: Which is Your Kid?

Rachael Brownell (Redsy) — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 15:36:00 GMT

Parenting advice can sometimes be laughably simplistic and reductionist. Nevertheless, obvious instructions like "don't leave your 7 month old unattended in the bathtub" serve to reassure us that all is orderly and well in the universe.

Furthermore, with all the competi-mommy confessions and helicopter parenting going on these days, the elegant simplicity of statements like "each child has different needs" and "children learn at their own pace" should be repeated like a peaceful mantra -- an antidote to Type A overkill.

People judge other people. And parents judge other parents. If we sometimes feel a little embarrassed of our ragamuffin bucket-head kids, it's really no wonder.

It may not be easy having kids who aren't stars of the gifted program, who lag behind other kids development. On the other hand, there is a sort of Beta Mom pride in the unwillingness to thrust our beloved progeny into the Fast Lane. Just yet.

You Know You're Not Dealing With Your First-Born When...

Karen Murphy — Sun, 13 May 2007 19:14:00 GMT

I have four children. I've been a mother for, seemingly, forever. All of my adult life, anyway. So it only follows that I've relaxed a bit over the years when it comes to being a helicopter parent, especially as compared to how I was as a first-time parent.

Case in point #1: This morning I was ~~hard at work~~ wasting time at the computer, when I heard my youngest, Eric (3) calling, "Mama! Mama!" He clearly wanted to show me something. Turning my head to glance in his direction, I could see through the kitchen into the dining room, where he was standing on the table, grinning with accomplishment (pretty good for a kid who only began walking a few months ago). I casually scooped him off the table and pushed in the chair that was his accomplice. With child #1, #2, or #3, there would have been screaming, running, cries of "Don't move!" and a lecture afterward.

Case in point #2: While I baked cookies (on Mother's Day, I'd like to point out), Eric played nearby in the kitchen, transferring cat food into his sister's cup. Actually, that alone is enough to qualify for not-my-firstborn status, but then he held a piece of the food up to his mouth, eyes glinting, daring me not to let him eat it. I looked him squarely in the eye and said, "Go ahead." (Eric does not like cat food, it turns out.) Recent evidence about the five-second rule notwithstanding*, I've become pretty lax about what that boy puts in his mouth.

So what about you? Have you gone from "OHMYGODHE'SGONNADIE!" to "Go with the flow"? And what about parents of just one child? Would you call yourself an anal overprotecting helicopter parent, like I was, or are you pretty balanced and relaxed about the whole gig?

*The new evidence suggests what we all knew inside anyway, that even five seconds exposure to a germ-laden surface is enough to infect your kid's toast. To which I say: Meh. Public areas are a whole other thing, but I'll continue to hold the pleasant fantasy that my house is clean enough.

Slacker Moms Urge Other Mothers to Chill

Rachael Brownell (Redsy) — Thu, 10 May 2007 17:30:00 GMT

USA Today's piece on slacker moms is a nice counterpoint to the alpha mom, helicopter parenting, competi-mommy impression many of today's parents give. According to the women interviewed for the piece, "Motherhood is not a contest" and "Kids are people not projects."

How refreshing to read tales of laid back parenting! A few signs that you might be more slacker than ultra-hyper, include fewer activities involving flash cards, and more confidence that raising good kids is less science and more art.

However you slice it our generation of mothers are extremely hard on themselves, and equally critical of their sister-mothers. Let's hope this article sheds some light on the need for more Beta Mommies out there!

[Photo Credit: USA Today]

Flavored Meth-For-Kids. No, Really!

Karen Murphy — Wed, 02 May 2007 20:02:00 GMT

I don't know whether to laugh or cry about this, but I think either way it's a scary and disturbing new trend: methamphetamine is now being marketed directly at kids in a new product called Strawberry Quick, which incorporates the addictive drug with a Kool-Aid-like powdered, flavored drink mix. Which gives a whole new meaning to the phrase "drinking the Kool-Aid".

I'm reading about this, and writing about it, while all the time saying to myself, "Well, my kids will never be exposed to this." I have the sinking feeling that I could be wrong, that this is way more pervasive than I allow myself to admit. Which makes it all the more important to really know what's going on with our kids, even when they're younger than we think they might be when exposed to drugs for the first time, helicopter parenting notwithstanding.

This isn't a few high-school kids smoking a little pot on the edge of school property anymore while thumbing their noses at the principal. Drugs are a huge business and they're after our kids, and I think I need to wake up to this fact instead of pretending it could never happen to my kid. What do you think? Do you worry about your kids and drugs?

Strollerderby : helicopter parenting

Mom Charged for Calling Son 49 Times a Day

Mom Gets OK to Collect Dead Son's Sperm

Teen Sends Over $4,000 Worth of Text Messages in a Month

Why Do Parents Cheat at the Easter Egg Hunt?

Why Do Parents Cheat at the Easter Egg Hunt?

Roll Your Kids Over to the White House for Easter

Who's Eating Kid Cereals? Us

The Newest Form of Discipline: Licking

Ready for Easter? Peter Rabbit's Gone Green

A Nation of Wimps

Helicopter Parents -- Now With More Spying Capabilities

Helicopter Parents Make Boomerang Kids

Man Without Kids Tells Parents 5 Dangerous Things Their Children Should Be Doing

What Kind of Helicopter Are You?

Child Proves to be Ineffective Deterrent to Car Thief

Helicopter Parenting Might be Good for Kids After All

Have We Made Our Kids Wussies?

Helicopter Parents Hover Over College "Kids"

Bucket Head or Genius: Which is Your Kid?

You Know You're Not Dealing With Your First-Born When...

Slacker Moms Urge Other Mothers to Chill

Flavored Meth-For-Kids. No, Really!