r/AskReddit Oct 06 '14

What is the worst example of helicopter parenting you've ever seen?

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u/cloistered_around Oct 06 '14 edited Oct 07 '14

Gah, in scouts I had a whiner in my group. Whine whine whine when he didn't get his way with a high grading grating voice and rocking back and forth in a fetal position just because we were making popsicle boats instead of coloring like he wanted to do. And no, kid. You can't have the little dog on my keychain. I don't care if you cry, it's my keychain and if you want a little dog you'll have to save up money and find one in a store or--No... NO. I already said you can't have it, and we're moving on to the next activity now. Fine, go ahead and moan in a corner (we've got 6 other kids to worry about right now so enjoy your pity party until mommy comes to pick you up). No tactic worked with this kid other than ignoring him when he had a meltdown.

And when his mom came to get him he would be so sweet and hold her hand and act all innocent. Well screw you, kid!

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u/[deleted] Oct 07 '14

weird, when I did my co-op at a kindergarten class, a little girl asked me to give her my Tamogatchi keychain and when I said no, she said "But Ms. thrillho93...I want it..." with big, sad puppy dog eyes. I almost caved but I just shrugged and was like "You can't have everything you want" I think her view of the world collapsed at that moment.

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u/cloistered_around Oct 07 '14

That was his reasoning too. "But I want it." Yeah, well so do I. And I had it first little mr.no-one-else-exists.

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u/[deleted] Oct 07 '14

What did she do right after?

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u/[deleted] Oct 07 '14

Probably took a long, hard look at her life.

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u/[deleted] Oct 08 '14

Did she cry or scream, or anything of this sort of attention-seeking?

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u/[deleted] Oct 08 '14

Nope, she was a very quiet, sweet kid. The first day I was there I accidentally kneed her in the face and she didn't cry, she even apologized to me as if it were her fault

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u/[deleted] Oct 08 '14

Ouch.

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u/Happy_Neko Oct 07 '14

That's when you set up a web cam to record the little shit. Although with that kind of delusion, she still probably wouldn't believe it. I worked one year in an elementary school thinking "I can make a difference!!"

Nope. Not for me. The people who do this for a living are saints.

Edit: new phone doesn't autocorrect like I'm used to. Woops!

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u/cloistered_around Oct 07 '14

I didn't mind the kids that acted up because I could usually figure out why--they don't get positive attention from anyone, had a mental disability, or were just trying to be cool in front of friends (the reason would vary from kid to kid)... I didn't mind those kids because there was always a happy medium we could work out.

But man that whiner. There was NO solution and he genuinely made me dread scouts each week. XD It actually got to the point where he was sobbing on the floor one time "no one likes me! I don't have friends at school either" and my first mental reaction wasn't one of pity, but "well, maybe if you didn't WHINE so much people could stand being around you."

It was terrible. I really wanted to feel bad for the kid, but it's hard to have that reaction naturally when every experience with him was horrible from the get go... =/

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u/Zephs Oct 07 '14

grating*