You’ve heard of helicopters right? They are those things only used by traffic reporters, hospitals, rich people, and action movies. Maybe it is because they are smaller, but it seems like there are so few of them, especially compared to their big brother, the airplane.
For sure airplanes have their own problems, with the crashing in oceans, and customers not really liking their getting hauled out of them for no reason and the overcrowding. Not to mention the fact that they are so expensive to get on, get bags on, and eat food on. I don’t know if you know this, but airplanes are one of the few things that have gotten way worse with age.
When my parents were my age, TV’s were black and white and certainly not even HD. They didn’t have Netflix, 500 channels that had nothing on, DVR’s, or BluRay’s. TV’s vastly improve every generation. But airplanes were the bomb diggity (though you aren’t allowed to say that in an airport), back then.
They had stewards and stewardess that actually cared about you, they had legroom for people over 4 foot 2, they had full Thanksgiving sized meals that were included in the ticket and you were allowed to put some luggage in the overhead bins.
You know what else has gotten worse over time? Parents. I had some overbearing ones from time to time when I was growing up. They somehow insisted that I go to bed before 3 am, and made me wash my hands sometimes. Overbearants!
Nowadays, though there are these helicopter parents though. No, they didn’t get their helicopter’s license, they got their micromanager license. From the day, their kid is born, they aren’t feeding them food, they are feeding them data. From math before they get to sleep in their first crib, to science before they will give them a bite of food, these parents are overwhelming their kids with schedules.
I was lucky when my mom made me wear my seat belt when I was young. These kids are strapped to their desks, computers and notebooks by the time they take their first breath. They can pass a physics exam easier than a friend test.
These kids know what fun is at an early age, but only because their moms and dads forced them to memorize the dictionary and it just happens to be in the first half.
I can’t even imagine wanting to fight for any free time more than I could breathe. I just wonder what these helicopter parents expect their kids to do once they graduate from college when they are 8. I mean, do their kids have to be their own lawyers on their journey to the Supreme Court to fight for their ability to be lawyers when they are 9?
What do they do when they are ready to retire at the age of 35, and haven’t figured out what 35 year old retirees are supposed to do?
I mean, I was ready to retire at 35, but that is because I’m lazy and being retired is going to allow my laziness techniques to get better…sharper…slower.
I can’t even imagine what my bitterness level would have been at if I had helicopter parents with their micromanagement licenses. I would have probably slept in until 4:30 am just to make them mad.
And I would have used my writing ability to write a blog. About bitterness and helicopter parents. See how I didn’t need helicopter parenting to turn out how I did?
ARRRGGGGHHHHHH
Bitter Chopper Ben
Professors complain about helicopter parents — the overprotective people who hover over their offspring and talk with the prof in his office as if their child isn’t in the room. They have to be ordered out.
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I can’t imagine why professors wouldn’t like them. It’s hard enough to deal with kids, but parents that are yelling at teachers because their kid didn’t get a good grade. The worst.
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we were tough in the 60s and 70s. riding in cars with no seatbelts. sitting in the back of pickup trucks. We ran around after school finding snakes and taking them home. Kids had chemistry sets – making smoke bombs n such. We built our own bikes and carts and evel knieveled them. I think Moonbeam Jerry Brown was Governor back then too. No wonder it went to hell.
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Yeah, kids these days just want to be on their phones all day. Though so do I ,but that is because I’m lazy.
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I don’t know if you know this, but I am one of the few other things that has gotten way worse with age. Also, https://video.search.yahoo.com/search/video;_ylt=A0LEV1H8mzhZfXcA1IJXNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTB0N2Noc21lBGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDBHNlYwNwaXZz?p=bye+bye+birdie+kids+i+don%27t+know+what%27s+wrong+with+these+kids+today&fr2=piv-web&fr=mcafee#id=1&vid=3d10c5c9d2107b819125b3ee2544ab57&action=view
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I can’t even imagine that.
HAHA! Who wants respect from a 10 year old kid? Wow those days were messed up!
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I insist my children do not wear seat belts in the back seat and they don’t listen to me!
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Yeah, stinking kids, all trying to be safe and all. I wish kids were more obedient like we were in the 70’s, and listened to our parents when they insisted we didn’t wear them.
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Really!
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Safety last I always say.
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Yes! Totally agree with the helicopter parenting. Gah! Drives me crazy! It’s particularly painful to watch these parents at the park with their young children. They are SO fearful and protective, they follow them all around the park, just in case they might fall down, they are there to catch them. When my kids are “being reckless” at the park (I have seven, and five are boys and I let them RUN at the park and PLAY ALONE and don’t tend to them unless there is actual blood or broken bones) you should see the glares I sometimes get from other moms. I refuse to stand at the end of the slide and forbid my child to walk up it. Seriously?! That’s like classic kid stuff. But I can also be assured there is always at least one mom at the park doing just that, “slides are for going down, you’re going to get hurt” etc. why can’t we just let kids be kids for a change? Life is too short!
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Goodness gracious right? I am so lazy when it comes to watching my kids really closely. It’s like Dwight from the Office says, you need to expose yourself to germs in order for your immune system to build up an immunity. Same with your kids. You have to let them fall and fail, so they learn how to pick themselves up and learn how to succeed. Those helicopter kids, will always just think their parent will be there to bail them out.
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Couldn’t agree with you more!!!
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Yep, teaching success by failure is my favorite way of parenting!
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You should write a parenting book about this method, very sarcastically of course!
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I should write a lot of books and get paid for them as well. Until now, not yet paid for my writing, but someday…
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Yes, yes you really should! You could make a compilation of all your bitter blogs?! And instead of Ben’s Bitter Blog- it’s Ben’s Bitter Book! 😉
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You don’t know how many times I’ve thought of that. Okay it is one. I really do think it needs to be done, I just think I need to figure out the right format to put them all out. And if I did, it would be like 9000 pages. No one has time for that.
Though I just found out I’m getting a GoPro (birthday and father’s day gift combined) and I thought of filming different blog posts into mini stories. It would be really fun to do.
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Oooooohhhh that sounds like total fun! You could become a famous You-tuber! I would totally follow you! 😉
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I already have a YouTube channel, so I’m kind of bitter you haven’t followed it yet. I have done a Bitter News From the Couch series and hope to start doing more videos soon.
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Oooops…. my bad! Ha! I will have to find it in more of my free time!!!! Lol!
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Good luck with all your free time!
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You as well— off to finish dinner…. waaaahhhhhh!!!!
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Yeah, it was fun having to go home and shuttle off kids to their activities. Then, finally, the couch.
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My couch calls to me ALLLL day long!!! LOL!
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Yeah, if it weren’t for all these people that live in my house and all their “needs”, I would be there all the time. I might even do a news show from there. emoji.
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I believe you DID do a news show from there? At least the one I viewed looked like you were laying on a couch? Lol!
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You bitter believe I did a news show from the couch. It was the most convenient place to do it from. A studio where you are sitting on seats or standing? That is so savage.
Though in one of the videos, I did actually leave the couch to go sit in our love sac.
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Hahahaha!
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Dating a guy with an overly involved helicopter mom- She has him trained better than I have my dog trained and that’s really saying something because I have an incredibly smart Aussie who really responds well to bribes, I mean, positive reinforcement and treats. I’d be impressed with her intense style of mom-ing if it wasn’t so annoying to have a third person involved in all major movements and moments of my relationship.
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That is something that people don’t really think of. How the helicopter parenting affects more than just the kids. I can’t even imagine having a parent of a significant other to deal with. Oh, believe me, my mother in law was pretty well involved in my wife’s life, but not to the extent of helicoptering. I feel for you, I definitely do.
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Is the helicopter parent a real thing? As in: do people REALLY push their kids that much and make it sound like that’s normal?
I am so happy I was born in the 80’s…
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It really is a thing. I wish it wasn’t, but I’m glad I figured out a way to not be that thing. I really don’t know how kids can deal with things like that. I guess it is similar to how parents were back in the 1880’s or so when they forced their kids into farming at a young age.
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Oh my… But if that’s happening in the States today (I blame Trump! :p) the Netherlands have a good two more years before we get caught in that nonsense.
Sometimes being behind is a blessing. Poor kids 😦
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It’s been happening for a while now, but I just happened to write about it a little late (a lot late actually, cause I’m behind on all trends). I just felt the need to write about it, because my sister trends toward being one.
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Nooooooooo! Oh my goodness. Must check with my sister is this is already happening here D:
I hope your sister will discover it’s much more fun for all parties involved to let things go.
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Well, her twins just graduated from college, so she is going to learn really quick how she won’t be able to helicopter them (at least not the one that is going to college 200 miles away). The one is going to the local college, so we will see how involved she gets with her.
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