There's a great book that came out last year by Judith Warner: Perfect Madness, Motherhood in the Age of Anxiety.

Every generation has a different culture or definition of what good parents should do. Our current culture is immersed in anxiety - about their childrens' education, their future prospects, their safety. As a result, we have become hyper-concerned about micromanaging every aspect of our children's lives.

It has often startled me when I got disapproving looks for: letting my children play in the mud, go without shoes, dress themselves (badly). Now my kids are older and still the mothers in my scout troop freak out if their daughters get their shoes wet!