Tag Archives: overprotective

Being a Mother Bear

There is a bear inside each of us mothers. We have the instinct to know the sound of our child’s cry, sense her footsteps shuffling on the steps, or even recognize his characteristic “scent.” And given the right circumstances, we can be tremendously protective. Nobody better mess with my kid. Nobody better look at him funny. Nobody better hurt her feelings. Deprive my kid, and you’re gonna deal with the mother bear. Various mother bear memories of my own come to mind: I still recall standing in a school bus and hearing older children laugh at my son. Once a … Continue reading →

You Know You’re an Overprotective Mother When…

When you parent a special needs child, it’s easy to become overprotective. Kids with disabilities can seem so fragile and needy. The truth is that they’re a lot stronger than we think. Yet it’s hard to quell the powerful desire to control, intervene, and rescue. Sometimes we can overprotect until it becomes obnoxious. So how do you know when you’ve gone too far? Here are a few (sarcastic) suggestions: You know you’re an overprotective mother when: You show up 15 minutes early to your daughter’s birthday parties, with a can of Lysol. Your child has a GPS tracker and boundary … Continue reading →

The Tendency to Overprotect Our Special Needs Kids

As parents of special needs children, we often develop coping strategies to deal with our child’s behaviors. One strategy is the tendency to be overprotective. There’s an obvious reason for doing this. We want to be sure that our son or daughter is safe in an unkind and unpredictable world. People can be cruel, and life is difficult. The child with special needs seems ill-equipped to handle these realities. Therefore, we decide that he or she needs our constant protection. This reasoning makes overprotecting seem like a good thing. However, there are other possible reasons why we might overprotect our … Continue reading →