Okay, so there are 101 types of parents out there but I'm gonna tell you about my favorites.
Helicopter Parents: Helicopter parents are those who hover over their children. They want to know everything that is going on in their children's lives. They want to be a part of everything in their children's lives. They want to fight their children's battles. They want their child to be number one at everything. These parents are really not doing their child any favors. If we are a part of everything that our children do then they never learn how to cope with situations without our help. Life doesn't work that way!! Do I want to go and smack some kid that is mean to my child? Sure, but I have to let my child learn to take care of himself.
Absentee Parents: These are parents who think they are doing their children a favor by
not being there for them when they do need them. Sure, they may turn out to be independent adults but they need us for guidance and love while they are children. Our children do need to be children and need to be able to have open dialogue with us when it comes to some subjects. If you aren't talking to your child about sex, someone else is. If you aren't giving your child love and affection, someone else will. It may be from someone who doesn't care one bit about them either!! The backseat of some guy's car isn't the place for love to be given.
"My Child is Perfect" Parents: These are the parents who can "one up" your child's A+, your child's hole in one, your child's 3 point shot, your child's awesome soccer goal, your child's national championship wrestling medal, your child's triple back tuck!! We all know them. These parent's have the most perfect children that ever lived. They make the best grades. They are the best in sports. They are the most well behaved children. They are the best looking or most beautiful children that were ever born. I mean, we all think our child is the best looking and most beautiful children that we have ever seen but that's because they are ours!! We just don't say it out loud!!! These parents do!! UGH!! These are the most annoying parents EVER!!
"My Kid is The Worst" Parents: These are the parents who never have anything positive to say about their children even when they are awesome kids! Most kids have at least one redeeming quality but to these parents, it's never enough. "So what if you scored 25 points in the basketball game? You should have scored 30." I think these are the most damaging parents. I know what they are trying to do and that is living vicariously through their children but never telling your child that you are proud of them is damaging.
Angry Parents: These parents are the ones who stir up more drama than a middle school girl could ever start! Nothing is ever right with their children's teachers, their friends, their school, their dance instructor, their soccer coach and on and on and on. These parents just need some Xanax!! I can't even talk to these people!
Cool Parents: These are the parents who want to be their children's best friend. They let their kids talk any ole way to them. They let their kids do anything they want to do. The kids tell the parents what they are going to do instead of the other way around. That is the tail wagging the dog!! I tell my son, all the time, that he has plenty of friends but only 2 parents. I don't want to be his friend. I want to be his mom!! That is a hard enough job! He isn't going to tell me what to do, where we will go and how we should do things. I drive this bus, Bubby, not you! Don't get me wrong, I will talk to my son about anything that he wants to talk about but I am going to give him advice from a parent's perspective, not his friends. No, he will not be allowed to drink in my home. No, I won't be buying him cigarettes. No, he will not be having girls up in his room. When he goes away to college, I can't watch what he does but while he is in my home he will respect my rules.
Over-Protective Parent: These are the parents that never let their child out of their sight except for school. They won't let their children go to other people's houses EVER! They won't let their child ride their bike down the street. They won't let their children do anything. This, to me, tells their child that they don't trust them at all and never will. Kids have to have boundaries, I understand that, but we have to give them a little breathing room and a little privacy.
Okay, so what's a happy medium? Every child is different. We all have different parenting styles and philosophies. I think we just need to give our children love, affection, attention, teach them right from wrong and be good examples for them as adults. We weren't perfect when we were children so why expect our children to be? (Except for y'all "My Child is Perfect Parents". Y'all already have perfect kids!) They will make mistakes and bad grades and fail to make a team and not score 30 points but we have to love them and guide them to do their best. My son studied for a test, not too long ago, and failed the test. He was afraid to tell me what grade he got. When he finally told me, I asked if that was the test that he had studied for and he said it was so I told him that if that was the best he could do then that was the best he could do. I told him that he needed to work harder for the next test and pull up his grade. He got the highest grade in the class on the next test because he had to work harder and pull up his grade. I am,
by far, not perfect so why expect him to be? Parenting is a hard job. Do your best to raise good adults!
