Some “help” is just control wearing an apron. Real help leaves people stronger, not dependent.

Assistance that keeps somebody needing you is a different thing from assistance that ends. The tell is what happens as the person gets more capable: genuine help welcomes that, while the other kind finds new areas to manage. Usually nobody involved is being cynical, and the need to be needed runs quietly underneath anyway.

Check your own helping this week against one question: is this making them more able to do it without me. And when somebody helps you, notice whether they hand things back or keep hold of them. Both directions are worth watching.