So Am I A Stealth Parent?
"Helicopter parents"
-- overinvolved, overbearing, moms and dads who just won't let their
offspring venture into the world without a protective, hovering
presence -- have made the news repeatedly over the past few years. This
being summer, a new crop of articles detailing the woes sleep-away camp
administrators are facing with clingy parents is making the rounds.
I am proud to say that we put our kids on an airplane and sent them off to camp for six weeks. Other than a few brief letters back and forth (the only way we got our son to send a letter was to make up a fill-in-the-blank madlibs-type form for him to fill in) we had no contact with them. And while we missed them, the kids had a blast and mom and dad had a trip without the kids for the first time in years. The camp we send the kids to does not allow any contact whatsoever with parents in the first week, and only brief 3-minute phone calls in a 1-hour window each evening.
Anonymous:
RE parents of adult children talking to their children's employers about beneifts, salary, etc.
United States Constitution - Amendment XXVI
Section 1. The right of citizens of the United States, who are 18 years of age or older, to vote, shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any state on account of age.
July 30, 2008, 5:56 amdearieme:
It was only years after she finished with summer sports camps that my daughter let slip that she had learnt to shoot at one.
July 30, 2008, 6:51 amChris Yeh:
I exercise a degree of parental control that many of my friends find disturbing. My basic principle is that if they aren't screaming in pain, they're probably doing just fine.
July 30, 2008, 7:47 amJosh:
I hope you're joking, Chris.
July 30, 2008, 8:01 amEsox Lucius:
Dearieme, why would your daughter have to "let slip" she learned to shoot? I spent years many summers at boy scout camps where we did things like shoot all types of guns including hand guns, killed live chickens and made dinner out of them, rock climbed, explored caves and built 4 story towers out of pine logs and hemp rope then we slept in them overnight. I brought home pictures of most of it. No reason to let slip...
July 30, 2008, 11:15 amBill:
Less than 7% efficiency at a solar constant of 1 kW/meter.
July 30, 2008, 5:53 pmMesa Econoguy:
Stupid kids.
August 1, 2008, 9:22 pmChris:
Just curious - how old are your children that you let them fly alone? I'd be terrified, though part of that may be my daughter is diabetic.
August 2, 2008, 2:50 pmEr1kTheRed:
I think you'll like next week's episode (8/14/08) of Penn & Teller's Bullshit (on Showtime)....
August 9, 2008, 7:16 pm