apron strings
the feelings that keep you dependent on your mother after the age when you should be independent
At 21, I just had to get away, to cut those apron strings.
the control that one country or institution has over another even though it should be independent
An independent board to loosen the apron strings between politicians and the NHS was proposed as a solution to NHS ills.
Easy Learning Idioms Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers