Helicopter Mom

From Wikipedia:

Helicopter parent is a colloquial, early 21st-century term for a parent who pays extremely close attention to his or her child's or children's experiences and problems, particularly at educational institutions. The term was originally coined by Foster W. Cline, M.D. and Jim Fay in their 1990 book Parenting with Love and Logic: Teaching Children Responsibility,^[1] although Dr. Haim Ginott mentions a teen who complains, "Mother hovers over me like a helicopter..." on page 18 of the bestselling book Between Parent & Teenager published in 1969. Helicopter parents are so named because, like helicopters, they hover closely overhead, rarely out of reach, whether their children need them or not. In Scandinavia, this phenomenon is known as curling parenthood and describes parents who attempt to sweep all obstacles out of the paths of their children. It is also called "overparenting". Parents try to resolve their child's problems, and try to stop them coming to harm by keeping them out of dangerous situations.<sup>[2][3]

Until yesterday, I never thought of myself as a Helicopter Mom.  I have been surprised, in fact, by many things I allow Ben to do that I never thought I would.  I let him crawl on the floor in public places, eat lick fuzz from the floor (at home), and eat off restaurant tables after only one quick wipe.  I also let him share toys with and play with friends that go to daycare, another thing I thought I might not allow so early.  Yesterday, however, all of that changed.  Ben had his first experience at a mall children's play area.  A chilly, windy day moved our walking date indoors for a little holiday shopping.  While waiting for our friend, I noticed the play area was closed for cleaning.  There were six people scrubbing, drying and vacuuming for almost an hour based on the sign.  Now, to this germaphobic Mama, there was no better time to try this out than after a fresh scrubbing.  Kids and parents were all lined up and waiting so we strolled to avoid the mad rush and let everyone get in first and "settled down."  I took Ben to a quiet end with shorter play structures I thought might be easier for him to climb on.  Of course he took a bee-line straight for the biggest kids who were climbing as high as they could and jumping and landing in somersaults on the ground.  I stopped breathing several times and probably gasped out loud as well.  The big kids were somehow aware of the little kids around and managed to barely miss the babies while stopping or turning on a dime.  Even Ben turned his head more than once to avoid collisions that never came.  Ben loved every minute and even made good choices about finding the shorter distances to the ground from the bridge rather than crawling head first off the tallest end.  He and another baby had a stare down from either side of the tent tunnel and the biggest boy there politely asked if I could "move the babies."  I explained that only one was mine to move and maybe he could go play on any of the other twenty toys.  I hope something stuck with Ben about all the kids running and maybe he considered he was capable of it too.  We'll go back.  Soon.  Though I may seek out the slow time at lunch or early in the morning or take a Xanax before we go.</sup>