Her Mom Called Her A “Helicopter Parent” Because She Still Forces Her Teen Daughter To Wear A Life Jacket While Sailing, Even Though It’s Not Legally Required
This woman and her husband have two daughters, who are 9 and 14-years-old. They also own a little sailboat that they occasionally ride with the kids.
“Our daughters find it pretty fun to sail, and we’ve done many trips before,” she said.
Every time they are on the water, she and her entire family also always wear life jackets. After all, the boat is quite small, and she thinks it’s better to be safe than sorry.
But they planned to go on a sailing ride this upcoming Saturday, and her 14-year-old daughter decided to ask if she could no longer wear a life jacket.
Apparently, there is a rule in her home state in which kids below the age of 13 are required to wear one unless they go below deck or are inside an enclosed cabin.
“And my daughter thinks that because she’s legally not required to wear it anymore, we shouldn’t make her wear it,” she explained.
She still doesn’t believe it’s worth the risk, though, and told her daughter that just because not wearing a life jacket is legal doesn’t mean it’s a good idea. Plus, she pointed out how she and her husband also wear life jackets despite still being way over the age limit.
So, she put her foot down and told her daughter that, yes, the life jacket was still required. In her mind, her boat was small, and most of the kids always spent their time on the deck anyway.
However, the bigger problem is that her daughter planned to bring a friend on the sailboat ride this weekend– which she had already agreed to. And now, her daughter is claiming that she’ll be embarrassed if she has to wear a life jacket in front of her friend.
Maxim Sokolov – stock.adobe.com – illustrative purposes only
“Which is quite stupid because my daughter’s friend will also wear the jacket,” she reasoned.
Thankfully, her husband did back her up on that, too, telling their daughter that if she doesn’t agree to wear the life jacket, then she can’t go on the sailing trip.
But then, her mother actually got involved and told her to stop acting like a “helicopter parent,” claiming that she should just let the girls sail without life jackets.
She confided in one of her friends about this situation, too, and they actually agreed with her mom– calling her a jerk since her daughter is no longer legally required to wear one.
So now, she can’t help but wonder if forcing her daughter to wear a life jacket is really so unreasonable or not.
Do you agree that it’s better to be safe than sorry? Or is she really being too overprotective? What would you do in her shoes?
You can read the original post on Reddit here.
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