Many boomer parents carefully planned and fiercely protected their children, according to Millennials Rising: The Next Great Generation, by Neil Howe and William Strauss.
They saw their youngsters as "special," and they sheltered them. Parents outfitted their cars with Baby on Board stickers. They insisted their children wear bicycle helmets, knee pads and elbow guards. They scheduled children's every hour with organized extracurricular activities. They led the PTA and developed best-friend-like relationships with their children, says Mastrodicasa, co-author of a book on millennials.

Dear Mom and Dad,
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for not doing ANY of the above!
Love,
Your well-adjusted adult daughter.

Many boomer parents carefully planned and fiercely protected their children, according to Millennials Rising: The Next Great Generation, by Neil Howe and William Strauss.
They saw their youngsters as "special," and they sheltered them. Parents outfitted their cars with Baby on Board stickers. They insisted their children wear bicycle helmets, knee pads and elbow guards. They scheduled children's every hour with organized extracurricular activities. They led the PTA and developed best-friend-like relationships with their children, says Mastrodicasa, co-author of a book on millennials.

You can rest assured that these kids won't be advocates of civil liberties.

"Where parent behavior becomes a challenge for us is when they encourage dependence, and they become too involved because they are afraid their son or daughter will make a mistake," says Tom Miller, a University of South Florida dean of students.

I know far too many people that were raised in this kind of environment. I was not one of them, thank god. I was always encouraged to be very independent and while my parents kept me safe, I made a lot of decisions for myself, starting from a very early age. It drives me insane to hear the parents of friends *still* trying to control and shelter their kids, now well into adulthood.

"When I went to college in the '70s, contact with my parents was standing at a pay phone on Sunday afternoon," says James Boyle, College Parents of America president. "And there was no expectation beyond that."

I didn't even call that often. Once every 2-3 weeks. And I'm pretty close to my parents, just not constrained by that closeness.