Imagine you live in Los Angeles but you send your child off to college in New York. Two weeks into their first semester, they get sick.
Lucky for you, you’ve got a concierge mom on speed-dial.
Wait. A what?
Yes.
Mindy Horwitz created such a service in 2019 called “mindyKNOWS.” Basically Parents pay for someone local to be there for their college student when they can’t. Birthdays, health scares, you name it. Families can hire one of these moms for students at Penn State, Northwestern, Washington University in St. Louis and more.
“We consider ourselves to be experts in our city, and can help other parents with personal recommendations, advice and tips in our cities,” Horwitz, 53, says. “We think of ourselves as their family away from home, and we give parents peace of mind knowing that we’re here to help when they need some extra support.”
But is that really such a good idea? Experts have decried helicopter parents, and without the opportunity to fend themselves, some worry students may never develop critical life skills.
“This kind of loving gesture can actually end up being a setback and interfering with a young adult’s development,” says Emily Edlynn, a clinical psychologist.
‘We’re not getting in the way’
These concierge services are wide-ranging – with most requests coming from parents. It costs $49 for a month of service; $250 for a semester; $450 for a year; and $1,600 for all four years of school. A “mom” might do everything from recommending a local doctor to finding a…
