By Barb Shelly, Kansas City Star editorial page columnist

I suppose it had to come to this.

We've heard about the helicopter parents who accompany their college students to course registration, and greet them with a wakeup call every morning.

Now, it seems, the parental copter is even hovering over graduate school.

This New York Times story describes parents becoming minutely involved in their college graduate's application process. They tour prospective graduate schools (sometimes without the applicant) and phone admissions officers. Those officers strongly suspect that parents are writing application essays. Some even write recommendations about their own kids.

I guess it's hard to back off if you've micromanaged your kid's life for years. But, as The Times writer noted:

If they can't apply without Mommy, how will they hold a quarterly earnings conference call with hostile investors, or argue a case in front of a judge?

Some of these parents might want to consider returning to school themselves, if they have so much time on their hands.

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