She recently told the Los Angeles Times that a helicopter parent is incapable of raising a future worker, "Somebody who pitches in, who rolls up their sleeves and says, 'How can I be useful here,' instead of, 'Why isn't everyone applauding my every move?'"
Before powered flight, texting and nanny cams, our forebears had a term for helicopter parenting: mollycoddling.
Coddling in the 18th century meant to treat someone as if he or she were an invalid. The word derived from caudle, a drink served to the sick. Molly derived from an 18th century pejorative for a gay man.
A man who was considered timid and ineffectual was thought to have been raised by overprotective parents, or mollycoddled.
Thank goodness, invalids no longer have to drink gruel; or gay men, prove they're courageous.
But I like old words.
So I urge overprotective parents: you're jeopardizing America's competitiveness and your child's future income! Quit mollycoddling.
Before powered flight, texting and nanny cams, our forebears had a term for helicopter parenting: mollycoddling.
Coddling in the 18th century meant to treat someone as if he or she were an invalid. The word derived from caudle, a drink served to the sick. Molly derived from an 18th century pejorative for a gay man.
A man who was considered timid and ineffectual was thought to have been raised by overprotective parents, or mollycoddled.
Thank goodness, invalids no longer have to drink gruel; or gay men, prove they're courageous.
But I like old words.
So I urge overprotective parents: you're jeopardizing America's competitiveness and your child's future income! Quit mollycoddling.
