When Parents Get Overly Involved....

PhotographerMom
Sat, 18 Jan 2014 09:46:15 +0000

When I started this thread, I was surprised by my anger. Even though I’m no stranger to BS, my first reaction was to jump in and “fix it”. By fix it, I mean make a call to the DOS (cut to the chase!) and in a very nice way ask him to make the calls stop (even though I knew that approach was TOTALLY WRONG- I just want to be honest about my knee jerk reaction when Photokid first called). I’m so glad I didn’t give in to that initial impulse and allowed things to play out. And the school is probably really happy, too! I know Photokid appreciates my restraint more than anyone else. When he called to tell me how the meeting went, he signed off with: Thanks for not launching, Mom.

I just wanted to add this because I think it’s very natural for parents to want to jump in and save the day. Sometimes distance magnifies these feelings beyond measure. I’m so glad I didn’t do it. Had I jumped in, I would have robbed him of handling his own affairs and I would have missed an opportunity to watch from the sidelines. I feel like I’ve gotten to know him a little better since this happened, if that makes sense.

When I texted him: “Hey” this morning to check in, I got “K” back. So not only is everything back to normal now, we’re rhyming, too. :)