The Age of Overparenting

via Boston Magazine

Thanks to a friend, I came across an article in Boston Magazine entitled Welcome to the Age of Overparenting. The article is so enlightening in many aspects of modern day parenting, that everyone who is a parent should read this.

When I was growing up in the 80s, the parenting style I was brought up on might now be considered slightly negligent and completely unattached.  We had to go after, instead of being nudged or sometimes pushed by our parents, as is the case today in overparenting households,  the things we wanted in our lives. After all, back in those days, our parents let us watch TV, play with the most original but not so safe toys, and some didn't stop to consider whether our schooldays were productive enough. And we turned out fine, didn't we?  We are those kids, now in our 30s and soon approaching our 40s, running the bus lines of e-commerce, social media technology and grassroots organizations. Somewhere between playing outside and staying up late, we developed a green conscience while acing our business classes in college.
 

Source: mamaiscomic.com via JuliaB on Pinterest

I know tiger moms have always existed in the parenting jungle of our lives, but don't you think they are becoming the norm in some zipcodes around the country?  And this, I confess, scares me.  Not because I  feel intimated by them, or fear my child might become dumb if she doesn't receive a tiger education at home.  It scares me because we are robbing our children's childhoods and compensating this with technology and the false promise of a secure future where there isn't room for mistakes or for idleness.

I'd like to try to be a parent for my Emilu first and foremost.  And then, a friend, a teacher, and of course when needed, an untigerly critic.