toxic parents

We baby-boomers turned parenting into a profession, and the terms that describe our high-powered approach (”helicopter parents/soccer moms/hands-on dads”) are a mix of respect, amusement, admiration, condemnation. Then, in a flash, the children weren’t children anymore…but we’re still parents. Now what? Where’s the line between being supportive, and suffocating? Between connecting joyfully, and clinging? Mothering21.com will help navigate “parenting” the over-21 set in the 21st century.

Mary W. Quigley, a journalist and author, has written two books about motherhood and work. A journalism professor at New York University, she is the mother of three adult children. You can contact her at mary@mothering21.com.

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Vivien Orbach-Smith teaches journalism to undergraduates in NYU's Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute, and co- authored Soaring Underground: A Young Fugitive's Life in Nazi Berlin, her father's memoir of survival. She is the mother of three children (ages 25, 22 and 18) who make her laugh and cry, usually at the same time. You can contact her at vivien@mothering21.com.

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Helen Oxenberg, MSW, is a psychiatric social worker and the mother of four adult children. You can contact her at helen@mothering21.com.