When You're Too Involved in Your Child's Life

Being a good parent does not mean hovering over your child’s life

- Bonolo Sekudu

IF ever there was a manual on how to raise children, all parents would line up to own one. For many parents, parenting is challenging, with many parents adopting various parenting styles and methods to ensure their children are raised well. As a parent, you are likely to want to give your child the best, be it life lessons or education. But there are parents who hover like a helicopter over their children’s lives because it makes them feel like they have control over how their children turn out.

WHAT IS A HELICOPTER PARENT?

A helicopter parent is one who is too involved in their child’s life without giving them room to make When you’re too involved in YOURCHILD’SLIFE their own decisions or do things on their own without them.

Phelicia Jarvis, a life coach, motivational and public speaker, says, “Helicopter parenting is when parents are over-involved in their children’s lives, whether it is their shool work, friends, activities, homework, making their beds, tying their shoes or cleaning their shoes.”

She adds that there are parents who take too much responsibility for their children’s lives and everything in it. This sort of parenting is widely practiced for various reasons. As a parent, you want to create a secure space for your child and make sure they don’t fail as result of you not being good enough.

REASONS FOR HELICOPTER PARENTING

Laurie Hollman, a psychoanalyst with specialised clinical training in infant-parent, child, adolescent, and adult psychotherapy, shares expert advice on this style of parenting.