See if you answer yes to any of these:

• You have an image of your child silk-screened onto a tote bag.
• If asked, you might describe your role as executive manager of your child's life.
• You have a life plan mapped out for your 3-year-old.
• You believe that free play is a waste of time that detracts from achievement.
• Your baby is more than 3 months old but you won't leave him even with your own parents.
• You've hired a psychologist to test your child in the hopes of finding a problem.

"Wake up!" says author Hara Estroff Marano, editor-at-large at Psychology Today and mother of two. Her compelling new book, A Nation of Wimps: The High Cost of Invasive Parenting, investigates how helicopter parenting has hit the mainstream – with adverse effects. (By now everyone has heard stories of parents who go on job interviews with their twenty-something offspring – then call HR to negotiate a raise.)

After delving into the what and how of the issue (parental over-involvement, even with the best intentions, hinders a child's development, socially and emotionally), Marano offers guidance on how to be supportive without being overprotective – and how to prepare kids for the real world.

Don't wimp out.

Available online at amazon.com.