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What Science Says About the Best Way to Raise Kids
Parenting Styles With Pros and Cons
I was on a call with my brother yesterday. He’s the father of an 11-month-old, while mine is already 2.5 years old. Naturally, our conversations often drift toward our kids.
He shared how they’re still struggling with sleepless nights. His baby is becoming increasingly clingy. He joked that they can’t even breathe without the baby crying.
I told him things were different on our end:
Our little one has started preschool. He is becoming more independent. But of course, we’re in the thick of the “terrible twos.” The tantrums get out of control, and we sometimes don’t know how to control them.
Amid all this talk, he suddenly asked,
“Are you a helicopter parent?”
I was clueless. What does that even mean? Is there a rulebook I’m supposed to be following? We’ve mostly been going with the flow, dealing with each moment.
That conversation got me thinking. Are we parenting “right”? Is there such a thing? I decided to investigate.
It turns out that psychologists have studied this for decades.
