Protective parents hurting their kids?

It’s hard to know if you are a “helicopter parent” or just a regular mom trying to do what’s best for her kids. A new study, however, says that knowing the difference could make all the difference in how your children turn out.

Having helicopter parents is associated with kids who are neurotic, dependent and less open to new things, according to the research by a professor at Keene State University.

In case you haven’t heard the term, a helicopter parent basically means a mom or dad who is overly protective, meddles in their children’s affairs, tells their children what to do and generally coddles their kids way too much. The term actually originated to label parents who intervened in college admissions decisions on their child’s behalf.

I agree that many of today’s youth are turning out to be pretty weak and entitled young men and women who look to mom and dad to fix their problems, plead their case to teachers and make their decisions. They’ve never been allowed to make a mistake, so they feel invincible but are actually totally ill-equipped to handle a crisis. But even if helicopter parenting is to blame, how do you know if you are overparenting your child?

I try really hard to give my daughter independence and to let her make her own decisions and mistakes, but I’m sure some more laid-back parents might think I’m an intense mom and guilty of helicopter parenting.

So how do you know if you are overparenting, and how do you stop doing it? Are you guilty of being a helicopter parent, and if so, do you think that’s necessarily a bad thing? If not, what kind of parenting label would you give yourself?