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I'm in trouble. A new study says helicopter parents may have an effect (and not a good one) as kids transition to adulthood. Guilty as charged. As thousands of young adults prepare to leave the nest and attend college for the first time, parents may want to examine whether they are kind and supportive or hovering into helicopter parent territory, according to newswise.com. Parental involvement is crucial to a child’s development into an adult, but Florida State University (FSU) researchers are finding that crossing the line between supportive and too involved could indirectly lead to issues such as depression and anxiety for young adults. “Helicopter parents are parents who are overly involved,” says FSU doctoral candidate Kayla Reed. “They mean everything with good intentions, but it often goes beyond supportive to intervening in the decisions of emerging adults.” I suppose it makes sense.  If you do everything for your kid (me), and try to influence teachers...

I remember dreading when my son had play dates with parents I couldn't relate to. Now that he's in middle school, I wish I just knew who his friends were .  I hear the names -- Michael and Nazir, Sofianne and Alex -- but who they are and what goes on in school with them and my son is a dark hole I can't seem to fall into. Maybe that's the point.  I've been reading this Mother's Day about women who worry their babies will grow up to share their neuroses, or like licorice, or the one mom who particularly got to me who worried who she was, now that her three sons were grown. (Of course, I have a ways to go.  Mine is only 12.) But I came to motherhood so late I was convinced I'd never be a typical mom, or a real one. Raising a child did not come easily to me.  I felt like people were laughing at me when I bought diapers or scrolled through the six months rack for onesies at Carter's.  What does she know about being a mother?  I even had to ask if the...