What’s Your ‘Parenting’ Type?

Hovering Around
Helicopter parents circle around their child ready to jump in and fix any problems the child may encounter. Coined in 1990, child-development researchers Foster Cline and Jim Fay labeled helicopter parents as ones “who may be over-involved and always assessing risk thus preventing children from developing that skill.” Often, helicoptering continues well into the child’s young adult years.

The antidote to helicoptering is to give your child control over his or her own life. Yes, said child might muck it up, as the British say, but, again, it’s your child’s life. And learning how to cope with failure actually breeds a healthy mental state in the long run.

Give ‘Em Space
Free-range parents let their children do age-appropriate activities alone, such as walking to a friend’s house down the street or going to the corner store. “Free-range parents believe this freedom promotes independence and self-reliance.”

The antidote to free-range parenting is more of a caution: Make sure your child is prepared to handle more independence and use your commonsense when it comes to what you’ll allow and what you won’t allow your child to do. But building your child’s self-reliance is essential to a happy and healthy adult.