apron-string
Mother's symbolic leash
Apron-strings are the ties that fasten an apron, but the word appears almost exclusively in the phrase tied to someone's apron-strings, meaning excessively dependent on or controlled by that person—usually a mother or wife.
The image is of a child clinging to a mother's apron while she works: He's still tied to his mother's apron-strings at forty.
State of being a female parent
- maternityState of being pregnant
- nurturingSupportive care-giving
- caregiverOne providing daily assistance
- bondingForming close connections
matriarch · upbringing · parenting · nurturance · protective · doting · hovering · mother-child
Fastened by knotting
- clinginessExcessive need for closeness
- overprotectiveGuarding too zealously
- enmeshmentBoundary-blurring relational pattern
- coddlingOverindulgent, protective treatment
smothering · reliance · helplessness · neediness · submissiveness · passivity · obedience · subordination
Freedom from external control
- emancipationRelease from legal bondage
- autonomyIndependent decision-making capacity
- adulthoodState of being grown
- separationState of being apart
liberation · self-reliance · coming-of-age · fledgling · untethered · severing
motherhood
State of being a female parent
- maternityState of being pregnant
- nurturingSupportive care-giving
- caregiverOne providing daily assistance
bonding · matriarch · upbringing · parenting · nurturance · protective · doting · hovering · mother-child · filial
tied
Fastened by knotting
- clinginessExcessive need for closeness
- overprotectiveGuarding too zealously
- enmeshmentBoundary-blurring relational pattern
coddling · smothering · reliance · helplessness · neediness · submissiveness · passivity · obedience · subordination · deference
independence
Freedom from external control
- emancipationRelease from legal bondage
- autonomyIndependent decision-making capacity
- adulthoodState of being grown
separation · liberation · self-reliance · coming-of-age · fledgling · untethered · severing
apron-stringindependence
Freedom from external control
self-reliance · autonomy · freedom · emancipation · self-sufficiency
apron-stringleaving the nest
Departing one's childhood home
flying the coop · empty nest · going one's own way · separation · detachment
apron-stringgrown-up
Mature person
adult · mature · coming of age · individuation · separation
string, apron, stringy, strings, aprons, stringing, stringer, stringless, stringed