Do You Know Your Parenting Style?

Did you know that you're likely to have a specific parenting style? The concept of parenting styles was first introduced by Diane Baumrind, a clinical and developmental psychologist, to explain differences in the way parents attempt to control and socialize their children. Our parenting styles vary on several different levels, and sometimes we're swayed by not only how we were raised but by the different trends we follow.

With the new school year just a few weeks away, you're probably stocking up on the essential supplies—# 2 pencils, notebooks, binders, and getting your kid’s wardrobes intact. But there are many other details we need to factor in. The new school year is similar to the new calendar year—a chance for fresh beginnings, exciting new goals, and as parents, a time to assess our parenting styles.

Does one of these styles sound like you? A new school year is the perfect opportunity to review how you tend to parent and to do a self-study as to whether this is working for you and your family or not. 

Parenting Style #1 - Helicopter Parenting

One of the most popular terms in parenting styles is "helicopter,” and it's probably the one that I relate to least. As a mom, I'm outnumbered eight times over. Five plus years of infertility treatments, one amazing adoption, and seven subsequent pregnancies later, I became the mother of eight kids in less than a decade. That said, because I had such a large brood to love and care for, there was just no way I had the time to hover and oversee my kids' every move.

The characteristics of a helicopter parent boil down to a parent who constantly hovers over their child.

In my episode How to Stop Helicopter Parenting, I explained how this term came to be:

“The term helicopter parent was first coined in a 1969 book titled Between Parent and Child, by Haim Ginott. The teen featured in the book reported that his mother watched over him like a helicopter. Since then, many college administrators have used the term to refer to parents who continue to manage their children's lives from a distance even after they have gone away to college. 

Today, that term is still going strong and is a common parenting style because parents are unsettled about all that is going on in this big world around us, so they hover and try to protect their kids from any and all adversity.”

The characteristics of a helicopter parent basically boil down to a parent who constantly hovers over their child. They monitor them excessively and jump in whenever they see a potential problem. The...

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