Don’t Worry, You are NOT a Helicopter Parent

Last year I read a wonderful piece in the New York Times about the mother of a college freshman who jumped on a plane when her daughter called to say she had mononucleosis. In any other time a mom visiting, and subsequently taking care of her sick 18-year old, would be utterly unremarkable. But the specter of the helicopter parent hangs low over all of our heads. Before we act, before we parent, before we answer the call of those who love and need us, we ask ourselves, “Is that hovering?”

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