Do you see people signing up for less classes, being less concerned with doing every possible thing they can for their babies and children? Is there is a trend towards “slow parenting”? Some think it has to do with our economic climate, others think that child-centered parenting is just over.  And, it’s about time, they say.

Land Your Helicopters- The End of a Parenting Era

Jean and Lisa

by Jean Kunhardt and Lisa Spiegel of Soho Parenting

Ahhh thank goodness! Lisa Belkin, writer and author of the blog Motherlode trumpets the end of an era of over-indulgent parenting. In her May 31st, 2009 New York Times Magazine article “Let The Kid Be” she writes, “It seems as though the newest wave of mothers is saying no to prenatal Beethoven appreciation classes, homework tutors in kindergarten, or moving to a town near their child’s college campus so the darling can more easily have home-cooked meals.” A sentence that warms my heart.

Not that we haven’t been railing against this for years but it’s nice to have some back up. This does not mean the end to being a responsive parent– one that thoughtfully decides when to move in and when to lay back– it just hopefully signals that parents will no longer believe they are handicapping their children by letting them hand an assignment in late or not being enrolled in gymnastics, soccer, ballet, painting, and mandarin–all by the age of 2.

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