I once saw a piece on a national news show about "helicopter moms". Smugly, I judged these crazy women who were calling their college aged children, checking up on everything from homework assignments to roommate squabbles. 'That will never be me', I told myself. 'I would never humiliate my children (or worse, myself) by sticking my nose into every aspect of their lives. Some of these women even called their kids' professors, pleading for better grades or leniency for missed assignments. It's a wonder that their "little darlings" were still taking their calls.
While I'm proud to say I haven't actually done any of the above, I have to admit I'm still having a lot of trouble not allowing my kids to suffer the consequences of their actions. Take taxes. They knew they were due on the 18th. So why did I feel I had to beg, cajole and, I'm sorry to admit, actually do most of the work associated with filing their paperwork? Why couldn't I just step out of the way and let them take care of it? Why couldn't I mind my own business, concentrate on finishing my own and head to the post office without those extra envelopes in hand. It's not like a SWAT team was going to show up to haul them off to jail if they were late. They were getting money back. The IRS probably doesn't mind a bit if you're late if they owe you. But I simply could not wrap my head around their procrastination. They were going to get money back. What the heck were they waiting for? Oh, yeah. They were waiting for me to do it for them.
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