Some parents let there kid run loose and do whatever they want because they trust them. On the other hand there are some parents who feel need to be super protective of their kids even when it's not necessary. Here are some embarrassing stories kids had to deal with while having helicopter parents.
Jury Duty
“My dad followed me into jury duty when I was 21 because he didn’t believe I could do it myself. I insisted that he didn’t come, but he did anyways. He was stopped by security guards outside the area and he threw a huge fuss about not being able to accompany me. Most of the courtroom was confused and weirded out. Luckily, they didn’t need me throughout the trial so I was dismissed.” Source
1 In 5
“When I went away to college, my parents would call me every day. I went away to a fraternity weekend retreat during my freshman year where us pledges weren’t supposed to bring our phones. I told my parents that I’m going away 3 days and not to call me. On the day we were coming back, the guy driving us got a call. He then hands me his phone and tells me to call my parents. It turns out, that when my parent couldn’t reach me for 3 days, they came to my college, and went around my dorm and half the campus asking everyone if they’ve seen their lost little boy. I was 18 at the time. On top of that, since I was on their family cell phone plan, they looked up all the numbers I had recently called and texted. They proceeded to call everyone letting them know I’m ‘lost’ and asking if they knew where I was. This included girls that I had crushes on but barely knew, random classmates, and mild acquaintances. When I got back to my worried parents waiting for me at my dorm, I found my cell phone with a bunch of messages of people asking if I’m okay and letting me know my parents are looking for me. For the next day, every 1 in 5 people I walked passed would ask me if I talked to my parents because they were looking for me.” Source
Daddy
“I didn’t go to any school dance. Or sports event. So yeah, no prom, nothing. I was not allowed to go to the mall by myself when I was 19 years old, my dad would follow me around. Like he’d walk about 5 feet behind me. When I was 20 I said I was going to get a cell phone and got into a big fight with my parents because they didn’t want me to have one. I had been working since 15 and was going to pay for it myself, etc. Couldn’t lock the door to my bedroom (or the bathroom), even in my early 20’s. Moving out was the best thing ever. I remember when I was 12 or so, my mom, little sister (7 at the time) and I went to Costco to do some shopping. My dad showed up dressed as a clown (he used to dress up for birthday parties), followed me and my little sister around honking his clown horn in our ears, yelling to all the guys that he was our dad.
He still shows up at my work and tells my coworker to tell me that my ‘daddy’ is here to see me. I’m 31. I think the last time I called him ‘daddy’ was when I was…7? 8? NOBODY calls him ‘daddy’.” Source
Worst RA Ever
“My cousin had an interesting freshman year experience. She was roomed with another girl with a helicopter mother… the mother slept in this tiny dorm room with the daughter and my cousin for several weeks until she could convince the RA to kick the mother out.” Source
3 Hours?
“One time I was driving from Colorado to Michigan. Parents thought it took three hours to get from Iowa to Michigan because ‘well that’s what Google maps said’. When I didn’t show up in the expected three hours, they called the Iowa state police, Illinois state police, Indiana state police, Michigan state police, lansing police department, grand rapids police department and our home town police department to report me missing.” Source
Both Highly Likely
“Today I learned what my mom is. I had a field trip when I was 10 years old that I was very excited to go to. The morning of the field trip, my grandma picks up a call from the school saying that the trip was canceled. I was enlightened at the fact that i could play games all day, but disheartened at the fact that i missed out on my field trip. Next day comes and I go into class. I remember asking the professor ‘When are we going on the field trip, since it was canceled yesterday?’ And the professor just looks at me with this puzzled face, as if I was stupid or something. I end up finding out that my mom called my grandma and told her to act as if the school called my grandma and pretend that the school canceled the trip. Apparently, my mom was afraid of the school bus flipping over and combusting into flames, while also there being a possibility of me being ‘touched.’ I had to make an account for this thread. Shout out to mom for inspiring me to make an account for reddit after years of lurking.” Source
Legal Adult
“I work in an ER and I get sick and tired of helicopter parents bringing their offspring in for ridiculous reasons. He got a nosebleed a week ago, and again today. She’s been having foot pain after PE. etc. The worst are the parents that bring their over 18 y/o kids into the ER because they wanted them to be tested for substances. I love turning to the ‘legal adult’ and asking ‘do you consent to this?’ The parent normally turns BEET red and starts yelling at me about how they are the parent, and they pay the insurance, yada yada blah blah. At which point I remind them that their precious child is now and adult and without their child’s express consent I cannot perform any tests on them. I’ve seen more than my fair share of light bulbs go off over the kids head, and them flat out refuse all lab work. I tell them, ‘alright, you heard him. I can’t do anything’. This normally ends in a call to the hospital administrator that will then tell them the same thing. I am also not allowed to give out any information over the phone, as I cannot verify you are the legal guardian, nor in the room without express permission. It’s fun to watch people’s veins throb when they can’t get their way.”Source
Uncontrollable Urges
“When I was engaged to my now husband, I was given many long lectures by my parents about how I couldn’t lean my head on his shoulder or ever ever be alone with him because it would lead him to have uncontrollable urges which would then lead him to physically hurtingme and it would be my fault for working him up. These lectures became daily and increased in absurdity. Glad my husband was able to stick it out. Things are much better now that I live with him on the other side of the country.” Source
Ulterior Motives
“My buddy had the worst helicopter mom. We were going to college 3 hours away from his home town and ended up at a random after bar party with people we met just that night. His mom showed up (no idea how she found us), walked in and grabbed him by the ear and dragged him out to her car. She then proceeded to drive him back to our home town. The next day, she made him get a ride back to college with his former high school sweetheart he had recently broken up with. She did all this because mom didn’t approve of the breakup.” Source
The Spy
“I wasn’t allowed to hang out with girls when I was younger and one day I was at the school park with some of my friends and there were a couple girls there too. My mom called me on the phone to ask who I was hanging out with. I only mentioned my guy friends. Well apparently my mom was spying on me with binoculars (the park was just a few blocks from my house). As soon as she saw the girls, she drove to the park, got out and made a big scene about it in front of everyone, and made me go home. That probably wasn’t even the most embarrassing thing she’s put me through. There’s been countless other situations.” Source
This Is Why You Make Your Own Money
“Not me personally, but I dated a guy in college who had the craziest helicopter parents. As a 20 year old dude, he was not allowed to leave his condo (that they owned). They lived about 30 min away and constantly called to make sure he was there. He was literally expected to go directly from class to home every single day. When we went out (for dinner, to the movies, etc.) he had to use cash because his parents checked every single purchase on his bank statement and would question him about them. He wasn’t allowed to drive, so he had to commute by bus to school every single day (about 45 mins). One time we went to a summer concert in downtown and his mom called him. He ran out of the concert so he could find a quiet spot to talk to her, and then was so scared he made us leave the concert. The reason he put up with all this was because his parents were paying for everything– the nice condo he lived in, his tuition, etc. He had never worked a day in his life. Not sure what he’s doing now, but I’m pretty sure they still have that hold on him.” Source
The Phone Checker
“My mom would do random checks on my phone every couple days. Out of nowhere she’d ask for my phone and I’d have to hand it over. My parents also didn’t believe in dating, they believed in ‘courting’. Because of that, I felt the need to keep all my relationships secret. One day she asked for my phone before I’d had the chance to delete any incriminating texts. I knew there were some…steamy messages on there from my SO. I handed it over knowing sh*t was about to hit the fan hard. I went and sat down but I just couldn’t handle it. I got up and walked right out the door. I was wearing my PJs still and hadn’t put on shoes. I ran for a while and then started walking. Didn’t realize I was crying until I slowed down. It took my parents about 20 minutes to find me. But hey I ended up marrying the guy I was texting so I’ve got that going for me.” Source
These Parents Are Next Level
“My parents had a gps tracker on my car that monitored rate of acceleration, top speed, average speed, and breaking force. This meant that if I hooned my car at all, they’d know. The best part? I drove a rav 4. I sped one time for quite a bit during a road trip and when asked about it I lied and claimed I was passing someone. When I got home that night, they had done the math on distance traveled etc to prove that i was speeding for an extended period of time. Scary sh*t.” Source
That Phase
“My mother once drove to my workplace after school when I was 17 to check and make sure I was actually working. She then freaked out at me when I got home because she claimed I wasn’t there, when really she just didn’t drive all the way in the parking lot to avoid being seen since she drives such a distinct car. That was around her phase of thinking I was on hardcore substances and sleeping with the entire male population of my town. I was an A+ student who worked every day after school plus weekends, don’t know when she thought I’d have time for all of that.” Source
How Are Parents This Clueless?
“Not the most embarrassing thing, but the only one I feel okay sharing: She would constantly go through my phone and read everything when I wasn’t around, and I’d find out when she brought up embarrassing information in front of friends, family, a crush. Once she found my crush on Facebook and messaged him a long-a** message that I don’t even want to know what it said (all I know is that he was super uncomfortable when he asked me if I knew she had contacted him). As for the worst part about it: I never felt a sense of freedom. I always felt watched. I was never a bad kid, but I felt violated every day and night. I felt like I never had my own sense of self.” Source
The Checker
“When my mom decided I was finally old enough to have a cell phone (and even then, I was only allowed to use it for calls), she called me basically every hour or two while I was out with friends to ‘check in’. And if my phone died or I left the ringer off, she would call my friends’ phones. Repeatedly. Or if I was even a little late coming home from school, she would call my friends and ask them if they knew where I was. This would’ve been at least somewhat understandable if I had been ten years old, but I was 18. Oh, and I wasn’t allowed to watch anything remotely violent as a kid. So when my friends decided to watch Lord of the Rings at a sleepover, my mom made my dad come over and pick me up because she didn’t want me to see that.” Source
Bad Parenting At Its Finest
“Monitored my internet activity and brought up the smut I watched at the dinner table in front of my younger siblings and a friend who was over for dinner, and told me watching smut would leave me morally depraved and difficult for anyone to love. I was thirteen.” Source