parent differently.

Parenting in this day and age terrifies me. And not only because I teach summer school and am so incredibly aware every single day how badly you can screw it up. Julie Lythcott-Haims' book tilted How to Raise an Adult: Break Free of the Overparenting Trap and Prepare Your Kids for Success, has NEVER met my tenth grade class, who clearly need a little more parenting. But as a parent who is going to have their shit together, I definitely don't want to be doing everything for my kids so that they can't even breathe, let alone fly, the second they leave home. I don't want to be a helicopter parent. I don't want to handicap my children by making their lives easy. So, when the time comes, what do I do? Enter How to Raise an Adult.

First off, your children are not your puppets. You need to let them be themselves, unless they are assholes. And you ARE doing them a great disservice by not letting them experience the tribulations of life. Your children WILL get hurt, and you have to stop trying to control that. And your kids need to carry their own stuff. And they need to not be scared of everything and everyone in the world because you are. The stories are interesting, but not everyone is going to like what Julie has to say, as some of you may realize that the real-life dangers your children are realistically facing, are you.