Have you heard about Lawnmower parents?

I think most parents are lawnmower parents. I would take my kid a water bottle if they called to requested one.

My daughter went through a period where she would her head at home if it had not been attached. Was it a pain to take her stuff to her?yes. Was it worth her not getting stressed over a missing pair of gym shorts? Oh hell yes.

Why would you think most parents are lawnmower parents?  I don't really know anyone who is or was, and the rest of us pretty much eyeroll at them because it was always the same kids and the same parents, which tells you something right there.  I'm not sure why it needed a name though.  

I took plenty of things to the school that they forgot. As far as I know, no teacher ever had to come to the office to retrieve it for them though. They got a message it was there and could go get it during the next class break they had.

I was expecting something different with "Lawnmower Parent" though. As in "Your ass is grass, and I am the lawnmower" ... my kids got that plenty! LOL

From the article: "And while I fully acknowledge every child and situation is different—for example, 504 students absolutely need certain struggles eliminated to be on a level playing field with their peers—I’m not sure that the solution for every sensitive child is to remove as much struggle as possible."

As a parent of a child who's had to deal with some real hell mentally and who is now in middle school, I completely agree with this. Yes, there have been times when I've needed to do the equivalent of laying my cloak over every mud puddle because she was just in no mental state to deal with it. But it is at least as important to push her when she can be pushed and challenge her and trust her and help her grow up. So far, she's been in middle school about 3 weeks, and has forgotten a water bottle at least twice and a snack a few more times. She's even walked out and left her breakfast on the counter once. (She sometimes eats on the way to and at the bus stop.) She has known not to call me - that that's just tough and a part of life. We have a deal that she gets one call per semester that's "free," since heaven knows we all forget things sometimes, and after that, she has to "pay" me somehow - the arrangement has been to do an extra chore of substance, but we've not had to use it. I also have a checklist for her to use in the morning that she is responsible for, that includes reminders of things like water bottles, snacks, homework, etc. We agreed upon this plan last year in 5th grade as a stepping stone to personal responsibility.

No one wants our kids to be unhappy or stressed or even - gasp - to fail, but I think it's better that they learn to do so while they still have the cushion and comfort and guidance of home. I'm not saying shove them out of the nest and don't assist, but to challenge them to grow as it's appropriate. I trust none of us have our mommies call us every morning to remind us to bring our water bottle with us - so our challenge is to make sure we don't raise a generation that *does* need that morning phone call!

I don't think most moms I'm truly friends with are lawnmower parents, but I definitely know plenty who are. It amazes me that at our elementary school, they actually leave a cart in the lobby for moms bringing freshly made, hot lunches for their kid. Daily. The once in a while special thing, I get - but this is every single day with enough people that it requires two filling and unloading cycles of a standard 3-tier utility cart! And this whole school is only around 400 something kids...

(OK, truthfully, I always kind of wonder if anyone would notice if I just swipe one on my way out. I'd like a nice fresh hot lunch, too!)

Well, my kids learned early on that they either remembered or did without because I was at work and could not leave to cover their mistakes.

I'm definitely not the lawnmower parent.. To bad so sad.. just like my mom and dad told me. ONCE and a blue moon I will bring the forgotten water bottle or gym shoes but 99% of the time I am at work and in no position to bring forgotten items. Raining out? Gotta walk in the rain. Snowing out.. Gotta walk in the snow. She packs her lunch, packs what clothing is needed and that is the way it goes. I absolutely love the parents that can't even drop their kiddo off down the street (school in plain view) but have to go right to the door. Doesn't matter what the situation is. I get it in some cases but the majority.. nope...

Meh.

Teachers writing articles to criticize parents goes over just as well, for me, as parents writing articles to criticize teachers.

What a small mean-spirited way to start the school year. May that teacher happen across one of the lengthy diatribes against teachers on the internet and examine how it feels.

For K on up, we had the policy that I’d bring your forgotten item once a semester. Everyone deserves a moment of grace. But after that, you owed me. And I didn’t want money—I wanted chores. Cleaning the baseboards was my favorite. For some reason the kids hated it even worse than cleaning toilets. And they had to pay me back with twice the time the errand took me. So if it took me 20 minutes round trip, they owed me 40 minutes. It worked to remind them when they called that this was their one freebie.

Until the year DS took violin lessons (which he chose!). He hated them and would “forget” his violin so that he didn’t have to go to lessons. Well, I was in the classroom one day helping out, the teacher needed something done quickly, and DS didn’t bring his violin. Luckily, she caught on quickly and sent him to lessons WITHOUT his violin. Genius! The lesson was twice as boring without an instrument and DS never forgot his violin again. That woman was a genius and was great about making the consequences fit the crime.

I wish it was a joke. I think a lot of it is a cultural difference - our community has a lot of people from each of two different cultures, and I've noticed that a substantial portion of the moms doing this are of those two cultures. But it's definitely NOT all of them! One of my kids kind of tried pressuring me to do that early on in our time there. I can't tell you how long and hard I laughed at that...

you would?  to her school, in the middle of a school day, when there's a perfectly good water fountain in the hallway?  really?  why?!?

...after reading that article and another one linked that was written by a college professor, I'm glad I grew up in the 70s and 80s, when we got to learn how to do stuff for ourselves.   (and we couldn't even HAVE bottled water with us in class-  "...back in my day, we made do with a quick drink at the fountain in the 3 minutes walking between classes.  uphill.  both ways." lol!    )  

Yes. I would, because daughter had low immunity. Drinking out of fountain is like drinking from a toilet, even if she wiped it down.
I took gym clothes because a student can actually fail for not “dressing down”.
I took forgotten lunches because our school doesn’t let a child eat unless there is money in their account/ or they have money. No lunch was sometimes my fault as I had to go buy groceries. ( my son’s Elementary never watch what numbers were punched in, so I was buying lunch for a couple other kids. I ended up going in for a month and handing cash to the cashier. )

Except for 2 teachers my kids were well liked and never demanding. They were both ta’s in school and got great letter’s of recommendations.
Also I was at the school A LOT as a room parent. That was probably the ultimate lawnmower parent thing to do.

RosieKat I like your approach. And as a mom who also deals with mental illness I have taken a much more balanced approach as my kids have grown up. When they were small I pushed them toward independence. I would never have been categorized as a lawnmower parent. Asthey've gotten older there are times when they just can't quite get their head together some days and I try to be mindful of that. For example my son has some food issues. Some nights I go with this is what I'm cooking and if you don't like it, have a sandwich. And some nights I adjust what I'm making for him to join us for dinner. His issue is pretty much that he abhors sauces, seasonings, etc. He eats a wide variety of food but doesn't like things combined. For example, he likes everything in chicken noodle soup served separately but won't eat soup.

Here I was thinking most of the 2Ps moms on here were also lawnmower moms! Esp reading the kids going off to college threads. I just laugh and roll my eyes. I think some of you are in denial. Sorry!!!
Yea, I could never run things to my kids. I worked 30 miles away, one way. So they learned to go without.