Is 'helping' your child helping them at all?

Does over-helping your child render him/her helpless?

These days our children get a comfy ride throughout childhood. Parents attempt to cushion their children from anything unpleasant which is a very sweet thought, but is it actually doing them any good? When I was a child, I was encouraged to play out (no mobile phones in those days), I rode my bike without a helmet, climbed trees, ate things straight from the plant, made fires, and was able to cook from scratch a Sunday Roast dinner, by the time I was 9 years old. If I did my homework that was fabulous, if I didn't I got into trouble, big trouble.

These days children don't have the same kinds of freedom, we put cycle helmets on them in case they hurt their heads, there are even things on the market to stop them bumping their heads on furniture, and wet wipe warmers so they don't have the indignity of having a cold wet wipe on their delicate derrieres. we keep them indoors in case the bogey man gets them, we wash everything and use antibacterial sprays to keep them 'safe'. No child these days gets left alone long enough to light a fire in a wood! It just wouldn't happen. If we do let them out, it's with a mobile phone, or with parental supervision, or both. Only yesterday I heard of a teenage boy, who was in high school who can't make toast! Yes you heard me right, he's 15 years old and can't make toast!

Why is it possible that some teenagers can't even make themselves a simple meal such as toast? Why are we not teaching them to be self-sufficient from an early age? Why are we not letting them experience life where they learn for themselves how to solve problems, keep themselves safe, look after themselves? Why do we only let them use blunt knives, when they can achieve far greater things if you teach them to (safely and with supervision) use a proper sharp knife from an early age? Why do we not encourage them to experiment and find their own solutions to problems rather than always stepping in and offering them solutions to each little thing? The school curriculum seems to be geared up so that they can only think of things that have already been thought of before, rather than coming up with creative solutions to every day problems.

I suppose I am as guilty as the rest though, there have been times when I've stepped in not wanting one of my children to get into trouble, so have solved their problems for them, without letting them experience the consequence of what would happen if they didn't say do their homework. Oh yes I've packed school bags so that they have the right books, I've run around finding PE kit, hell I've even taken lost/forgotten items into school when needed. Well not any more. I am going to let them learn the hard way, I'm going to have to be cruel to be kind, as my dad used to say. I am going to let them learn by their mistakes, but also teach them to stand on their own two feet.