Helicopter Parental Units

[auntiem]

We can totally relate. I've been called names I never even knew existed by these helicopter parents trying to reach their kids at these resorts. One of them was in his late 20s, if memory serves. Similar situation.

I'm a travel agent as well, I've had these parents call like this when their mid-20yr olds were on their Honeymoon! They managed to meet and marry (and possibly breed) with someone else, yet they need their Mommy to call the front desk to complain about something. I've gotten so frustrated that I once said "you know how emasculating it would be to have your Mom call [a Latin American country] to straighten out a problem when he is right there?! He will be the laughing stock of the entire resort staff."

[MadRocketScientist]

I don't get this whole Helicopter Parent trend. When I was 16 and driving off for the night, not be seen again until sometime the next day, my father's parting words to me were often:

Bye, Drive Safe, Don't Call Home for bail money.

[Becks]

Bye, Drive Safe, Don't Call Home for bail money.

I usually say something like, "Have fun...if you can't stay out of trouble, at least try not to get caught, and DON'T call me for bail money!!!"

[Geek King]

I don't get this whole Helicopter Parent trend. When I was 16 and driving off for the night, not be seen again until sometime the next day, my father's parting words to me were often:

Bye, Drive Safe, Don't Call Home for bail money.

Yes, but these are the parents who have been bombarded everyday by the news telling them, in a wonderfully sensational way, all the Horrors and Dangers that await Billy and Sally in the world, and how they need to monitor everything lest Tragic Outcomes happen. They have been so scared by the overhype of problems people have been handling for centuries, that they don't let Junior learn how to care for themselves.

I know a couple of friends who are teachers, and a couple of family friends who are retired teachers of 40+ years, and they can tell some real doozies about dealing with the heli-parents.

[Interior Desecrator]

My mom works as an academic advisor for our local university. (I'll have to write down some of her stories!) She gets everything from parents trying to register their kids for classes to "Why is little Johnny failing?" She can't give out too much information to the parents, since most of her students are over 18 and therefore legal adults (a term that I use loosely in this instance). But she still gets bugged by parents wanting to know their kid's grades, class schedule, etc. It's an odd concept to her, since she and my dad taught me and my brother to take responsibility for ourselves. What a concept! I somehow made it through four years of school, and my little bro is one semester away from graduating, himself. Some of these parents really need to just come in for a landing!