Call me 'Chopper'!

I have recently come to the realisation that I am (oh the horror!).......... a helicopter parent.
It's a term used disdainfully for those parents who seem to 'hover' over their children. I think it's quite a clever and apt term and don't find it offensive. Of course, I also never actually thought it applied to me.

I spent most of my childhood in the hills of Perth climbing trees, riding bikes on gravel tracks, catching yabbies in creeks and enjoying a certain amount of freedom and independence. I spent my teens and early twenties as a Guide Leader, teaching girls how to be self-reliant through all sorts of rough-and-tumble activities and opportunities for free choice within a safe environment.

So I always thought I'd raise my own children the same way- perhaps even more 'free range'.

But instead I find myself always standing, always watching when they play, ready to jump in when needed rather than letting them come get me.

It's not the worst thing in the world. I'd rather jump in and grab the cord out of their hands than wait til they pull someone's hifi system down and they don't get wrapped in cotton wool- I let Bella jump on the couch/bed sometimes because it's such a fun experience, she's been on the really tall slipperydip at kings park and she gets dirty digging in the garden etc.

But I wonder what makes me that way?

I wonder if it's because I'm worried that my children are a reflection of me and so I want to jump in *before* my child blurts out a swear word or clocks someone in the face (for the record, she's never actually hit anyone, but she has let slip with the F-word at daycare!) in which case it's like a bizarre form of PR.

Or maybe it's just lazy parenting. It's all well and good to run a Guide night and then go home. But parenting is 24/7. Maybe the mums who sit on the park bench sipping their chai latte and reading STYD have actually put in the hard yards well before the playground trip and are prepared for the hard yards afterwards (skinned knees, dirty clothes, awkward relationships with parents of the kid your child clocked in the face).

Or maybe it's because although I can totally see the value of experiencing disappointment, failure, temporary social discord, mild injury etc and although I'm happy to facilitate that for the Guides etc, I just can't bear to witness my child experiencing it. For the record, Bella is possibly the clumsiest child ever and nearly every game of chasey ends with her on her face, having tripped over her own feet or having laughed so hard she couldnt see where she was going.

Or maybe I just find it completely impossible to relax and so busy myself with watching my children.

In any case, I really need to learn to stop doing it!!!!