The Case for Helicopter-Parenting
I’m a bit of a “helicopter mom” with my dog. A friend very gently introduced me to the term after a chat about the antics of my, then, year-old puppy. I hovered over him at the dog park ready to intervene at a moment’s notice. At the time, I laughed, because it was true, but it’s not a term meant to inspire pride. That style of parenting sounds overbearing.
But the thing is, while my dog is my furry, four-legged child, he’s not human. Helicopter parenting may be bad for kids who eventually have to become independent members of society, but my dog will never be independent of me. He will rely on me until his muzzle greys. Constant supervision isn’t going to hurt his ability to ‘mature’ and does a lot to keep him safe and out of trouble. This week, a newly-released study validated my pet-parenting style and found some interesting links between personality and pet affection.
I swear, it was this big!
Our oceans are massive and are home to some massive creatures. These are the seeds of myth: sea dragons, Leviathan, the Kraken. Such creatures may seem unreasonable now, but exaggerating the size of our planet’s largest beasts is not just a thing of the past.
For years, scientists have worked with a very small pool of data when estimating the maximum and average sizes of marine megafauna. That is, until now.
Our Online Personality
It’s no secret that potential employers may have a gander at your social media profiles while flipping through your application. I’ve heard dozens of stories about how near-successful candidates were overlooked for jobs because their Facebook profile contained a photo of them drinking from a plastic cup. Online presence is such a big thing now a days. I chatted with a friend in IT this past weekend about how to navigate my own concerns about hire-ability and my desire for self-expression. Her attitude was not to delete my Facebook albums from undergrad, but to make sure they’re only visible to friends. Take control of your public image. It makes sense. I might be comfortable schlepping about the house in a hoodie, yoga pants and flip-flops, but I would never wear that to an interview. It’s all about putting your best self out there.
So, I had mixed reactions to this study about a computer programme able to predict personality based on a person's Facebook profile.
Practice makes...better
It’s a new year with new resolutions that hopefully won’t drop off into obscurity come the icy winds of February. One of my goals for the year is to write more and write consistently. I've managed to develop my personal writing habits, and I hope it will extend to this blog.
Fear has been my main hinderance for posting. I want to write something good and that desire means I never actually finish anything. My Career Counsellor Friend said that quantity begets quality; I need to just write on a regular basis and not stress about making it perfect. But when she told me this I thought, “Why?” I wondered this not in a childish, foot-stomping petulance, but legitimately. I was genuinely curious about why writing on a regular basis will make me a better writer.