Just read mommy blogger Lisa Belkin’s article in the New York Times Magazine entitled “Let the Kid Be.”

Let the kid be? What does this mean exactly?

Here at the Partnership, we believe in creating and maintaining a strong bond with one’s teen. Parents need to stay involved, keep an ongoing dialogue with their kids, and know their whereabouts, their friends, their school habits and their online activities.

But Belkin brings up some good food for thought – at what point does concerned, involved parenting actually become helicopter parenting (or “I-am-never-going-to-let-my-kid-out-of-my-sight parenting,” as Belkin jokingly calls it)?

Maybe, as this article suggests, just “chilling” is the smartest thing we can do as moms and dads. We’ll be less stressed and fearful of parental failure, our kids will feel less stifled, and we may even save some cash in these tight economic times. But, on the other hand – can you really ever be over-involved as a parent? After all, it’s our job (and our instinct) to help and protect our kids.

What do you think? When does protecting become overprotecting? Where do you draw the line between good parenting and helicopter parenting – or do you not draw a line at all?

• 	Posted by: Joe Keenan | 3 Comment(s)
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One of my teen clients recently did a science lab in which she had to use Lego sets to build something. She told me that she normally hated building, but she loved this project because it made her feel efficient. Efficiency, she said, is the greatest feeling.

The more I thought about it, the more I agreed. In fact, I think that letting teens feel efficient is actually a great self-esteem booster for them. Because I believe that efficiency is so important for teens, I’ve come up with a couple of scenarios where you as a parent can help your teen feel more efficient:

• When doing homework, encourage teens to do the subject they feel most proficient in and can complete most quickly first. They’ll feel less frustrated by the harder, more difficult homework assignments that follow.
• If your teen is feeling down or bad about herself, think of activities that will make her feel efficient and have her do them to boost her mood.

Remember, teens struggle through a lot (homework assignments, boring school novels, SAT/ACT prep), so it’s important to show them—not just remind them—that they can actually zip through certain things. And you can even use your kids’ efficiency to your own advantage—have them wrap some gifts, unload the dishwasher, or fold the laundry for you!

• 	Posted by: Vanessa Van Petten | 0 Comment(s)
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Michael Hausauer, a psychotherapist in Oakland, Calif., said teenagers had a “terrific interest in knowing what’s going on in the lives of their peers, coupled with a terrific anxiety about being out of the loop.” For that reason, he said, the rapid rise in texting has potential for great benefit and great harm.

Here’s the article from the New York Times.

• 	Posted by: Joe Keenan | 1 Comment(s)
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On Monday morning, after staying up half the night to watch my beloved Philadelphia Eagles lose to the Chicago Bears, I dragged myself out of bed at 5:40 a.m. to wake my 16-year-old daughter for school. By 5:50, it was clear that she was too sick to go because she’d caught the communal cold from my 6-year-old.

Things soon got crazier. I took my wife to the mechanic to get her car fixed, and as a result, was late for work. I turned on the television and saw that my bank had been swallowed up by a bigger bank, stocks had tumbled 700 points, and a worldwide depression was imminent.

But you know what? In spite of the fact that the sky is falling, I still had to do what I do every day: Find new ways to keep my 16-year-old daughter from succumbing to the tight clothes fad (cell phone confiscation seems to work best); assure my 6-year-old that she’s still special despite being the middle child (taking her for rides does wonders); and do at least one manly thing with the 4-year-old (in our last episode of father and son time, I was teaching him to do pushups).

With bank failures hitting home and gas prices hovering right around a gazillion dollars a gallon, I think I speak for all parents, husbands and regular Joes when I say …

I need a bailout.

Can some nice corporate exec please come to my house and wash the clothes? How about the car? Heck, I’d even settle for someone who would wash the dishes. If that were to happen, it would free me up to do the things that really matter, and the trickle down effect on my household would be tremendous.

I’d be able to go beyond teaching my son to do pushups. I could finally get around to showing him how to run a post pattern. I could show my 16-year-old how to drive instead of just getting her to study for her learner’s permit. I could take my 6-year-old daughter to the mall. I could even attain the crown jewel of married parenting … taking my wife on an actual date … to a restaurant or something!

Now, I know it might cause some pain for the corporate guys in the short-run. But in the long-run, my wife and kids would be so much better off because of that corporate sacrifice.

So what do you say, parents? Will you join my movement to have the corporate guys bail us all out of our parental responsibilities? Not only would we get a night off from washing the dishes. We might even be able to get a little rest.

• 	Posted by: Guest Blogger: Solomon Jones | 0 Comment(s)
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