College is a rite of passage for parents too

Although my daughter is about to start college, until a week ago I did not know how much money we owe the university (a lot), whether she had turned in all her required forms (no), and if she had a roommate and a dorm room assigned (yes and yes).

I found the answers by hacking into her email (full disclosure: she gave me the password for something else and I snooped).

Yes, I probably broke the law. But even more significantly, in my opinion, I gave in to the panic that grips many freshmen parents who come from the generation known for both information overload and helicopter parenting.