It's important to keep an eye on your kids, but if you prefer to use a physical leash to do so, perhaps you're taking it a bit far. Work on proper discipline and behavioral development if your kids are this out of control.

Food allergies are often serious, and a child can have a hard time saying no when pecan-topped, double-chocolate cupcakes are passed around for a classmate's birthday. Making sure your child's teacher is aware of a nut allergy is a good idea.

Sometimes teachers give hard tests, but the issue often lies with what your teen considers "proper studying" or other factors that aren't the teacher's fault. Stick with strategies like giving you kid tips on ways he or she can improve, help with work or hire a tutor if you can't, and cut the teacher some slack.

Sometimes accidents happen, but if someone requires a warning telling him or her babies shouldn't be folded into strollers, then that person has much bigger problems to deal with. Anyone you plan on entrusting your child to shouldn't need such an obvious cautionary suggestion when it comes to childcare.

If it's 10 o'clock at night, you could be justified in vetoing a plan like this. But under normal circumstances, teens are at an age when they need to start learning to how take care of themselves. The best way to help ensure their safety is to prepare for it: Build a solid and trusting relationship with your kids, prepare them with the knowledge of how to handle certain situations, and lay out clear expectations and ground rules for them to follow.

If your child has to cross any busy intersections without a crossing guard, that could be a reason to say no. Or if he or she needs to traverse a stretch with no sidewalk and only a narrow shoulder, that could give you pause. But in many situations, it's perfectly safe for kids to be allowed to walk to school with a few friends. Safety in numbers, after all.

If your teens can't be bothered to fill out the applications, maybe they aren't college material. And if you do manage to get them in, they'll certainly struggle without mommy and daddy following them around fighting all their battles and picking up all their slack.

Stepping up and taking complete control is one thing; helping kids find their way through an unquestionably tricky process (in which some of your own money is likely involved!) is quite another. Just make sure they learn from the process.