I have yet to find a mom who agrees that she is a “Helicopter” mom, have you? I was very confident I wasn’t ONE for sure. I mean, how could I be? Yes I do a lot of things for my kids, but that’s because I love them so much. I want to nurture them and love them and help them in every aspect of their development, because as a grown up I can provide them the requisite guidance. But N.O I am definitely not a helicopter mom. For sure.
Does that resonate with you too? I told you, read the first line again.
As per English dictionary ‘helicopter parent’ is a parent who pays extremely close attention to a child’s experiences and problems, particularly at educational institutions. Helicopter parents are so named because, like helicopters, they “hover overhead”, overseeing every aspect of their child’s life constantly.
While watching Kajol play an overtly possessive mother in the movie ‘Helicopter Eela’, I couldn’t help but associate a lot of my own friends who do exactly that and fit the bill, albeit in varying degrees. Worst of all I saw myself as one too.
Lets see how you fare on these QUESTIONS
# Do you hover around your child in the playground to SUPERVISE such that he is having a good time?
# Do you get him to do activities that you always wished YOU could do as a child?
# Do you pick up the phone and call the mom of the child who boxed your apple of eye?
# Do you consciously try to overhear their conversations, so that you can provide the necessary guidance/judgement at a later time?
# Do you try to protect him from any calamity – emotional, physical, academic, athletic and so on so forth?
# And the one thing I have to admit publically – I always open the drop before my kid rings the bell. I am just waiting there, waiting to hear his slightest voice at 4pm and 7pm. And I rush to open the door before he actually rings the bell. And not surprisingly enough I feel proud to be doing so.
So how did you score, more YAY or NAY?
It’s amazing how you turn out to be the kind of parent you swore you would never be. There could be many insecurities that may be resulting in this parenting style, but at the end the child feels claustrophobic.
I am surely going to absolutely stop playing the door-bell game for starters. And I have made a mental tick of all the other “things” I need to stop doing right away.
A comedy-drama on mother-son relationship, Kajol’s latest Bollywood movie is a fantastic & entertaining take on helicopter parenting, possessive mothers and teenagers struggling for personal space. Kajol shines as Eela, who was once an aspiring singer and has forgotten herself in being the only parent to her teen son Vivaan, played convincingly by National Award winning actor Riddhi Sen.
Grab your seats now for the best movie date with your kid or your own mom this weekend! Be ready to laugh and cry in equal measures.
#HelicopterEela #MoviePreview #Events
An Urban Nomadic 