Intensive Parenting Keeps Mom and Dad Busy

Every decade brings on a new trend in parenting.  Since the 1990's, intensive parenting has been what its all about.  What is intensive parenting?  In a nutshell, it's parenting by constantly teaching and monitoring.  It's child centered, expert guided, emotionally absorbing, labor intensive and financially expensive.  It means more time doing hands on child care.  For example, in days gone by, the child would watch TV on his own.  Now, the parent watches TV with the child, for maximum learning.

Using "Parent" as a verb became popular in the 1970's, with the explosion of parenting books.  In the 1980's "helicopter parents" became popularized, and is still used today.  Originally the term was intended to keep children safe from physical harm.  It's meaning has changed somewhat over the years.  Helicopter parenting and intensive parenting are similar.

In the 1970's, many parents saw love and discipline as their primary parenting job.  Their job was not to entertain the child.  Children played their own games, made their own entertainment, had creative freedom in play that doesn't exist much anymore.  Most of a child's free time is programmed:  soccer, baseball, dance, art, computer class, etc.  Things sure have changed.

Today, parents spend more time doing activities with their children.  Parents spend more time reading to children, giving them lessons and helping with homework.  Intensive parenting began as an upper middle class approach to parenting, but is now done by parents across the soci-economic spectrum, whether they can afford it or not.  Is this a better approach to parenting than what was done in the past?  Only time will tell.