Why do some parents think their children have no idea about the meaning of love? Probably because these same parents assume their children’s expression of love must be what the parents expect in order for these parents to accept that what is expressed, is indeed, love. In other words, if parents can only accept that their children expresses love through “selfless acts and obvious behaviors of gratitude,” they’re going to express a lot of disappointment when the children are still [...]

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Answer to a Quora question about 10 year old twins with extreme separation anxiety Please know that you’re being normal for your feelings; you have tried probably everything you can think of short of medicating your children, and so far, nothing has worked. What caught my attention was your mentioning that your sons have already received counseling for many years. This caught my attention because it may not be the counseling itself that’s “not working”, but rather, what “root cause” [...]

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The U.S. congress is addressing home care for elderly or disabled relatives by approving the state-administered Lifespan Respite Care Act that aims to help families get temporary help for the primary caregivers. The grant for fulfilling this act is around $300 million dispensed over the next 5 years. Some politicians who have joined to approve this measure have personally witnessed the burden that caregivers go through to take care of an elderly parent or ill relative. Given how we are [...]

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My friend Thom sent me a New York Times article called, “Rush for Wealth in China’s Cities Shatters the Ancient Assurance of Care in Old Age.” He said that this very cultural tradition was what moved him and his wife to be the primary care giver for his elderly, hemiplegic stroke survivor mother for ten years. I think it is very sad and unconscionable of adult children to leave their own children with elderly parents to raise while they go [...]

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Wall Street Journal’s “Latest Custody Battle: Who Gets Mom” (August 17, 2006) describes an emerging trend in custody battles between adult children over their aging parents. Fighting over parents is a new twist in our society that is seeing more elderly parents and a fragmented family structure. The fight is usually about control over the parents’ residence, caregiving, and financial control. The spotlight first centered on 86-year old Mrs. Lillian Glasser, worth $25 million. Mrs. Glasser’s son and daughter are [...]

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Often we view adult children who move back to the nest as people in transition: perhaps they’ve gone through some personal life changes (for example, a divorce) or financial changes and have decided to move home to live with their parents. We may begin to hear about an emerging trend that correlates with the aging baby boomers: baby boomers’ adult children moving back to the nest to take care of them.

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The storylines of the March 2006 movie Failure to Launch may have been trite and somewhat predictable, but this is the first time that I’ve seen a “box office” production dealing with the issue of adult children moving back to the nest or never leaving their parents’ homes. The story gave equal attention to three friends who still lived with their parents. “Trip” was a 35-year old man who first attracted women with his flashy car and huge house, then [...]

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Wall Street Journals, “Mr. Moms Grow Up: A New Generation Of Granddads Is Helping Raise the Kids” (subscription, June 8, 2006; Page D1) have become “Mr. Grandmom.” We may be seeing a new lifestyle trend of baby boomers, as more grandfathers are becoming active in their grandchildren’s lives. They certainly bring a level of wisdom that grandchildren today (and probably many adult children) can benefit. The article also suggests that grandfathers may play a critical role for children raised in [...]

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