My mom (love her dearly!) is a helicopter mom. And, quite frankly, from years 13-18, I thought she was the helicopter mom. I’ve since grown up and realized there are those who are worse. And I feel sorry for their kids because I understand what they’re going through. But, ladies and gentlemen, I do believe I have found the queen of helicopter moms. I’ll give you a sneak peak at a little convo I had with said helicopter mom, and you let me know if I’m correct.
HM: Hi. I’m calling on behalf of my daughter, a student in high school. I was wondering if she could have an internship at D Magazine.
Me: Oh, I’m really sorry. We don’t allow high school students to intern here. We’ve tried it in the past, and it just hasn’t worked out.
HM: That’s what WFAA said, too. But now she has an internship there this spring. Let me tell you about my daughter. She’s very smart, …. (We’ll skip this section. You can only listen to and remember so many credentials.)
Me: She does sound smart. And I’d be more than happy for her to come to the office and meet with a couple editors to talk about the industry.
HM: No. I’d like for her to have an internship. I’m going to keep pushing, because I really want my daughter to get all the experiences she possibly can before she graduates high school. Who are your supervisors?
Me: I’m sorry, but I head up the internship program. And I’m the one who makes the final decisions on editorial interns.
HM: Oh, well. Who’s in your position in Austin? Whom could I talk to there?
Me: (Confused and thinking maybe she’s asking about Texas Monthly) Um. Well. I don’t work for that company, so I don’t know.
HM: Well, where are D’s headquarters? Aren’t they located in Austin?
Me: D? As in D Magazine? No. Our headquarters are in Dallas.
HM: Oh. I didn’t know that. Well. I’m going to go ahead and fill out this application and submit. I hope you’ll have a change of heart, just like WFAA did.
We’ll just go ahead and end it there as the conversation was 10 minutes and 17 seconds long (though it felt like it lasted about two hours). I haven’t seen the application from the mom daughter, but I’m eagerly waiting. Oh, and WFAA, good luck!
19 comments
Krista, this is great. I, too, have been accused of being a helicopter mom by my kids. And I probably am one of the worst! We just want everything to be perfect for y’all. But I recall one applicant for a prestigious Ivy League school who’s mom made his interview appointment and then rescheduled it twice and then the applicant failed to show for the interview. And he got in on the waiting list!
Hey, it worked for Daxx Garmin, right? Wait, what?
You should have given her an internship and had her go knock on doors to sell subscriptions! Or perhaps stand on Ross Avenue wearing a D sandwich board.
Clearly a case of a mother pushing her daughter to do too much too quickly. Pray for both of them.
Internships are designed for college-age students, and no matter how much “experience” she’d have at D Magazine, WFAA or anywhere else, there is a certain level of maturity required that high school students rarely possess.
Poor kid. Small miracle if she isn’t a basketcase.
I tend to go all F-16 on Helicopter parents. You have 10 minutes more patience than I do. Kudos.
Dont hold it against the kid. I am almost certain her mother is a constant source of embarrassment.
Poor girl. And, really, if you need your mother to call in to inquire about said internship, clearly you’re not ready. Though I’m sure this is mostly the mother’s doing.
Parents don’t realize they’re actually hurting their children by doing these types of things FOR them. If her daughter is a prodigy of sorts, ready to take on the working world at the ripe age of 16ish, then she can call you herself! Parents like these breed lazy bums who don’t know how to do anything for themselves.
If this is the way to get an internship, then I guess I’d better return my cigars and blue dress while I still have the receipts.
I would have killed my mother if she had ever done this to me. Luckily, my mom was NOT a helicopter parent and taught me that if I wanted something, I had to go make it happen for myself. I’ve done the same with my daughter. She’s a senior in high school, has a great job, and is very independent. She knows her own worth. Big thanks to my stellar parents (both of them) for not wanting to make everything perfect FOR me, but teaching me how to make things the best they can be on my own.
Ugh. I know a TON of these moms. Their kids can’t make decisions, can’t complete complicated tasks, but have been taking Mandarin since pre-K.
Candy, getting into Ivy League has very little to do with the interview. You have to pay the entry fee, which can be in the form of a donation to the college or your college prep.
Why do I keep thinking of Black Hawk Down?
“Someone” just sent me this…
http://www.xtranormal.com/watch/7148143/
H/t to Bethan…I mean someone.
@amanda: Mandarin is an ADD drug, right?
I don’t know, but I’m surrounded by these moms. My totally awesome, funny, chill kid feels like a slacker. And, I wouldn’t let her work at D. Even when she is like 40.
I’d fire the mother.
I too know the type.
Likely had the kid later in life…a ‘miracle’ birth after ‘God knows how many tries’. Wild guess.
Kid praised for nothing & everything. Allowed to, for instance when younger,… as I saw recently…’color in her book’ lying flat in her fancy dress at five yrs. old…face down coloring…in the aisles of the church where the reception took place. Playing hide & seek peekaboo under the tables at PF Chang’s. Jumping like it’s a trampoline on the banquette at same restaurant while the mother commented to me that her daughter ‘has SO much energy’.
Give that mother her Pink Slip. (Size zero).
Yeah, I teach at a high-end school in Dallas. Welcome to my world…