food for thought from The Atlantic

interesting article about the potential consequences of over-protecting our children from life's little rough spots; losing at a game, not having a choice, not getting what they want when they want it. Helicopter parenting does not make it easy for our kids to learn resilience and trust in their ability to move through difficulty.

I can't say I love the title, but there's some fascinating food for thought here, including this:

“Happiness as a byproduct of living your life is a great thing,” Barry Schwartz, a professor of social theory at Swarthmore College, told me. “But happiness as a goal is a recipe for disaster.” It’s precisely this goal, though, that many modern parents focus on obsessively—only to see it backfire. Observing this phenomenon, my colleagues and I began to wonder: Could it be that by protecting our kids from unhappiness as children, we’re depriving them of happiness as adults?

I must admit, I recognized myself in this article at times, and it had me squirming. Good stuff.

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2011/07/how-to-land-your-kid-in-therapy/8555/1/


For more information about Karen's parenting consultations, click here or visit www.karenalonge.com