I was reading my UF Today magazine and there was an interesting article about the parents of the millennial generation and how they have the nickname of “helicopter parents” since they tend to hover over their children’s lives. They even have the term “Black Hawk” for those that really cross the line. The article talked about how UF used to have Preview (orientation that was a 2 day event) and parents rarely went with their children (mine didn’t go) and now they have to plan a 2nd course for just the parents. The school even noticed that the kids and parents were texting back and forth all through the presentations. Then when it came time to register for classes, it was the parents on the laptop registering! They even had angry parents calling the school because they couldn’t get their child into a specific class. All I could think was – how embarrassing! I would have crawled under a rock for weeks if my parents would have called UF like that!
Other things that these helicopter parents are doing:
-writing term papers
-calling professors to complain about a grade their child was given
-applying for jobs
-sitting in with their child in the job interview
-once the child gets a job, calling their boss to negotiate a higher salary
All of this seems just crazy to me! Embarrassing is really the word that fits. But I suppose I should get used to it – I got a call today from a bride’s mom. I already talked to her about 2 weeks ago and we went over all the pricing and details (she is an out of town bride – mom is out of town, too). She said she wanted to go ahead and book. I asked for her daughter’s information – address, etc. and mom said to just put her information. I told mom that I needed the bride and groom’s info – that they were the “client” on my contract and she asked if we could just put her instead. I finally talked her into their info and then I told her that I would call the bride a month out to touch base about times and such. But mom said that she didn’t want me calling her daughter – I only needed to contact her! How weird, huh? But I guess I should expect a lot more of this if these children of “Black Hawks” are getting married soon!
What do you think?