Helping your kids might seem like a natural part of being a parent.
But one woman thinks parents should draw a line with how much they’re “helping” their kids.
Don’t get the wrong idea.
She’s got a pretty compelling case to make.
According to parenting expert Esther Wojcicki, you might be “disempowering” your child the more you help them.
What does she mean by that?
If her surname rings a bell, that’s because she’s the mother of some pretty notable businesswomen who carry her surname.
One is YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki, possibly the most famous person to carry her surname.
Esther’s two other daughters, Janet and Anne Wojcicki, also have some impressive business resumes.
Janet Wojcicki is a Ph.D pediatrician and epidemiologist at the University of San Francisco, while Anne is the co-founder and CEO of 23andme. So yeah, you could say they’re a successful family.
So maybe Esther’s got some evidence to prove her parenting advice is effective.
She’s got the results to show for it, doesn’t she?
Esther’s point is a lot easier to digest when you hear her out.
She thinks some parents might be overdoing it with the supervision.
Kids will always have times when they need help, but that’s not all the time.
You want to avoid taking away your kid’s independence.
She said, “The more you help them do something, the more they are going to lean on you to do it because they feel like they can’t do it themselves.”
She’s the author of the book “How To Raise Successful People.”
In it, Esther talks about all the parenting methods that helped her raise her three successful daughters.
In a nutshell, Esther’s stance is a critique of helicopter parenting.
But what’s “helicopter parenting” for those of us who don’t know?
Helicopter parenting is when you give excessive supervision to your kids.
We’re talking about never letting them do stuff on their own.
It’s supervision to the extent of being unhealthy, and Esther knows better than anyone that this isn’t good.
It’s vital to let your kids learn and make mistakes. Failure is, after all, the best teacher.
When you make a mistake, you learn how not to repeat it. It’s how all the most successful people learn.
The author and mother of three thinks the same.
“Kids don’t have a life where there are no challenges. They have to have challenges.” she said
In real life, people aren’t always going to hold your hand and show you how to do everything.
Sometimes, you’ve got to figure stuff out yourself.
It’s important that kids learn this as soon as they can.
Of course, Esther’s not telling you never to supervise your kids.
It’s on you to think about when you should be stepping in.
You can still be there to help with homework, crushes, difficult life situations, and those sorts of things.
To put it simply, you should still be a parent – don’t be a helicopter parent.
Would you say Esther’s words have truth to them?
Listen to her advice about helicopter parenting down below.
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