Parents of adult children who seem to be struggling need to keep control over their emotions to avoid enabling their offspring or making emotionally charged situations worse. One common pitfall is feeling guilty about real or perceived mistakes they might have made when raising their child. On the other hand, resentment can also be a problem — your struggling adult child probably isn’t “out to get” you, and this resentment can interfere with empathy. Feelings of failure can create a negative outlook or make you want to give up.
Key Takeaways:
- The author advises parents not to be reactive with their adult children. To have a plan that is constructive when dealing with them.
- Guilt often affects parents when their adult children are failing. But they have to realize that as long as they have done their part, those emotions are unnecessary.
- Parents should not feel resentment over their adult child thinking: why is he or she doing this to us? Rather, they should be sympathetic and constructive.
“It is crucial to know what thoughts, feelings, and actions will help versus backfire with your struggling adult child.”