<p>How often do your parents call you?
A. One time per week.
B. Two to four times per week.
C. At least once a day.</p>
<p>Who picked your classes this semester?
A. I picked all of them.
B. I picked them, but took advice from my parents
C. My parents told me which classes I should take.</p>
<p>How many times have your parents contacted the college administration?
A. To my knowledge, never.
B. One time when I had a major crisis.
C. They call whenever I am having trouble in class or with roommates.</p>
<p>Who decorated your dowm room?
A. I decorated it with my roommates.
B. I did, bt my parents sent me a couple of posters in the mail.
C. My mom measured the windows for curtains.</p>
<p>How many times have your parents gotten you to stand infrom of the college web cams and wave to them at home?
A. There are web cams here?
B. I did it once for my dad's birthday/
C. That's how I check in every morning.</p>
<p>How many times have you seen your parents since you left for school?
A. None- they are't even here for parent's weekend.
B. They came for my birthday.
C. They come about every other weekend. </p>
<p>If you answered:
Mostly As: Your parents give you plenty of space and let you do your own thing. </p>
<p>Mostly Bs: Your parents are involved in your life, but they still give you room and let your make your wond decisions. </p>
<p>Mostly Cs: Duck!!</p>
<h2>Source: An informal distillation of student and staff opinion Bowdoin Orient (School Paper).</h2>
<p>A few years ago when my first son left for school, I was definately a helicopter parent. S # 2 is a different animal, organized and independent and it has been easier to step back.<br>
How about you?</p>
<p>well I call her about every other week so I guess A
I didn't even give much input on her high school classes so A
I didn't contact administration, but I did email one of her profs( when she needed to retake a class) & I have emailed her RAs- so A-?
Her dorm room was * decorated?*
They have a meat cam at Renn Fayre ( for the pit)
I did come down for her sisters spring break</p>
<p>So I guess Im not a helicopter parent?
damn
Im going to see her for thanksgiving though- and bringing the dog and letting her sister stay with her and get to know her roomies ;)</p>
<p>We tended to call at least once a day during the first year. I tried to help her pick her classes when she first signed up, but the system was too complicated for me. Decorating she handled. We did go to parents' weekend. There are cameras? So I guess we're don't qualify this year.</p>
<p>Definitely don't qualify as a helicopter parent. My son calls me on his way from his last class/practice on the way back to the dorm. I try to not call at all, so I'm not disturbing him. An email once in a while, or several times a week, just to see how he's doing, or get some information, isn't too bad, I think. He picks all his classes, even bought his own plane ticket to come home.</p>
<p>Don't talk on the phone much, but S is included in family daily email and he writes several days per week. Have been to every home football game where he tailgates with us. Were up for parents' week-end yesterday. (S and H won the father/son 5-K which was a highlight.) Wouldn't dream of talking to administration, but added a rug for dorm room upon move-in (which I guess constitutes decorating), and did discuss options for his one course elective for next semester. We don't feel strongly one way or the other about what he takes, but love to chat about his courses to learn more about what he likes and dislikes. Don't know anything about a webcam. </p>
<p>So, I guess mostly B's/with some C's. However, interactions are not advice driven as much as just enjoying each other's company.</p>
<p>B. I picked them, but took advice from my parents</p>
<p>Not so much advice as a suggestion that she check out the homepages of the Ps and look them up on Ratemyprofessor.com.</p>
<p>How many times have your parents contacted the college administration?
A. To my knowledge, never.
Never</p>
<p>Who decorated your dowm room?
A. I decorated it with my roommates.
B. I did, bt my parents sent me a couple of posters in the mail.
C. My mom measured the windows for curtains.</p>
<p>I admit that I did make window treatments for the window and the quilts for the bed. D picked out the fabric and pattern. She even found a furniture arranging website back in the summer so she could maximize space for this teeny single.</p>
<p>How many times have your parents gotten you to stand in front of the college web cams and wave to them at home?
A. There are web cams here?
Never</p>
<p>How many times have you seen your parents since you left for school?
A. None- they are't even here for parent's weekend.
B. They came for my birthday.
C. They come about every other weekend. </p>
<p>For the fall break we will see her compete twice over 2 different weekends AND go to PW. Is that really too much, especially when she drops unsubtle hints about the competition being "only" 2 hours from our home?</p>
<p>At times I can qualify as a helicopter parent but I try to let her make all the phone calls home. When it came to picking classes, I wondered aloud how the same class was on different pages in the two columns. She said through gritted teeth, "That is because one is for fall and one is for spring. I don't see how you can help me with this." And with that I closed the book and handed it back to her. If she ever asks again I might remind her that my rotors are old and in frequent need of repair.</p>
<p>Straight A's for me too-sort of (since "none of the above" was not an option):</p>
<p>-How many times do your parents call? (less than once a week. Work has been crazy and been working most weekends. Bad mom, bad mom. Do weekly emails count?)</p>
<p>-Who picked your classes this semester? (actually, school picked all but 1 elective - including sections/times; for his engineering program there is a core curriculum for freshmen where they group kids into sections so they are in the same classes together (to help facilitate study groups etc). But I DIDN'T contact administration to complain when he ended up with an 8:00 am class!)</p>
<p>-Who decorated your dorm room? (ummm....I don't think it's actually decorated yet...he's a boy; well he did pick out the bedspread. IF they had a web cam he could shoot me a pic...)</p>
<p>Even though I thought I might be a helicopter parent -- I flunked. With my first, I was on campus 3 times --freshman move in, move to apartment and graduation (and school was 90min away). With D. I've been maybe 6 times--mainly to haul her horse! With youngest, I've been there much more often, but mostly to take him to hospital, pick up from hospital, pick him up due to illness (see a pattern?). </p>
<p>I rarely call my kids. But they pretty much call me every day for a few minutes--even my married one and my DIL. Maybe I have "helicopter kids"?</p>
<p>I had to laugh at a lot of those...decorate room? HA! Not at the Naval Academy! We DID get to see it--one of the two times we will see it in 4 years. Pick classes? Another HA! Nope, SHE didn't even have input into thoses... Phone calls? Another HA! She was allowed 3, three minute calls during Plebe Summer and I think we've talked to her 5 times since then. She did call on Friday--she needs new running shoes--worn out the first pair...</p>
<p>I HAVE had other parents get pictures at away football games and I have taken some pics for other parents at the Air Force game. There is a network of Navy parents that take pictures of every Mid they see--figuring it is SOMEONE'S kid!</p>
<p>Well--no helicopter kids or parents here. My S doesn't even call when he gets packages--he needs me to ask him if he got them!!
We have gotten him to call once/week to let us know he's (a) alive and (b) healthy. That's about it. He did ask us to get him shelf paper, if that's decorating, so we got a roll my friend was tossing & gave it to him. Haven't seen him since we helped him move in to his dorm in August & likely not to see him until he flies in for Winter Break in December.
The only input we've had in his scheduling was in HS when we encouraged him to do as well in his courses as possible so he'd have the best selection of the best teachers possible, which happened to be teaching AP courses. We also suggested in his SR year that since he liked physics & the instructor, it made more sense for him to take AP Physics C than AP Psych (which he could take in college). We also advised him that it was fine to drop Mandarin after 3 years of struggling for more science rather than jump up to Mandarin Honors 4.
He has not sought our advice for college courses & they are individually advised on choosing their college courses (not a whole lot of options offered for engineers anyway).
We're hoping D will be better about keeping in touch.</p>
<p>My son, a college junior, gets irritated if I even e-mail once a week. I haven't spoken to him on the phone since the second week of the semester. I think our helicopter has crashed.</p>