My parents told me they wouldn't support me financially, and I'm glad they didn't. It made me more budget-conscious.

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A man and woman exchanging U.S. currency.
A quick exchange of money

themotioncloud/ Getty Images

I'm Gen Z with baby boomer parents. They are more focused on my professional success than wanting grandchildren.

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Sandrine Jacquot smiling and looking at the camera, she is sitting inside and has glasses on her head. A plant is behind her.
Sandrine Jacquot's parents aren't pressuring her to have kids.

Courtesy Sandrine Jacquot

Her daughter struggled in school with dyslexia, so she moved all 3 kids to Bali to try hands-on learning in bamboo classrooms

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Photo collage of Jackie Easthope.

Jackie Easthope; Jenny Chang-Rodriguez/BI

My helicopter parents forged job applications for me as a teen. I almost made the same mistake with my own child.

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A young female cafe worker indoors cleans the coffee espresso machines machine with a cloth
A young employee cleans the espresso machine in her cafe.

standret/Getty Images

My foster mother hated her first name. I found another way to honor her after she died.

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Nicole Johnson with her foster mother, Esther, when she was younger. They are standing outside a car.
Nicole Johnson's foster mother, Esther, made her promise not to name her kids after her.

Courtesy Nicole Johnson

A pool director at a country club hires teens as lifeguards. She sees parents applying for their kids to make life easier, but it has the opposite effect.

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A lifeguard watches over a swimming pool full of children.
Susie Johnson (not pictured) — who believes helicopter parenting impairs kids' independence — hires teenage lifeguards to supervise swimmers at a country club.

Albany Times Union/Hearst Newspapers/Getty Images

We cuddle our kids to sleep. Our oldest is 9, and we don't plan to change our bedtime routine anytime soon.

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Melissa Noble and her son smiling while walking outside on a trail.
Melissa Noble and her husband cuddle with their kids before bed each night.

Courtesy Melissa Noble

Melinda French Gates says MacKenzie Scott, Jeff Bezos' ex, helped her with parenting kids that were raised 'down the street' from each other

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Melinda French Gates being interviewed by Stephen Colbert; MacKenzie Scott attending Vanity Fair Oscar Party.
"I could see a bit how she was parenting, and I knew we had quite similar philosophies, actually," Melinda French Gates said of MacKenzie Scott's parenting style in an interview with The New York Times.

Scott Kowalchyk/CBS via Getty Images; Taylor Hill/FilmMagic via Getty Images

I threw my son's Xbox out the window. Now, he's a national champion gamer playing for college scholarships.

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A boy wearing headphones is playing video games on a computer screen.

gorodenkoff/ Getty Images

My wife and I both work from home. I have a ton of fears about how remote work will impact my kids as they grow up.

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Jeffery Smith with his wife and two children.
Jeffery Smith (right) began working remotely after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Jeffery Smith

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