Malcolm GauldBe sure to check out the 11/30 edition of Time (cover photo to the right).
Open the magazine to the feature story and the message is even more graphic with a photo showing a mother wrapping her son in bubble wrap next to a blaring story title that asks, “Can These Parents Be Saved?”
While this article begins by recounting the now familiar excesses of the helicopter parent, it also asserts that “there is now a new revolution under way, one aimed at rolling back the the almost comical over-protectiveness and over-investment of moms and dads. The insurgency goes by many names — slow parenting, simplicity parenting, free-range parenting — but the message is the same: Less is more; hovering is dangerous, failure is fruitful. You really want your children to succeed? Learn when to leave them alone. When you lighten up, they’ll fly higher. We’re often the ones who hold them down.”
The article is both troubling and encouraging. In this week of hopeful recipes, time will tell. It always does.
Check out Laura and I discussing this topic on NBC Connecticut.
Onward, Malcolm Gauld
