This article on child raising that I read yesterday resonated with a lot of things I have noticed lately, Psychology Today: A Nation of Wimps. The article says a lot of the things parents do these days are bad for our kids long term. I’m not sure whether I agree or disagree with that but I had noticed them and marked them as "strange." Kids sitting in car seats until they are six, wearing helmets to ride their trikes, and not being allowed to run around outside without a parent right behind them. Parents who pick up anything that falls on the floor and sanitize it before they allow their kids to touch it (my floor, at my house), but it’s ok for their kid to slobber all over my sunglasses which have to be much dirtier than some floors as I don’t think I’ve ever washed the things!
Anyways, the article has a lot of food for thought from small kids to teenagers and how our current society, rules, cell phones, etc may or may not be affecting how they grow up. Worth reading.