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PARENTING GROWN CHILDREN: The children may be grown but we still have our issues.

Grandparenting and the Generation Gap: Yes we can–understand teen language, music and video games

07/10/2018

I'm not sure if it's a game or a test. When my Boston-based, teen-age granddaughter comes to visit, she catches me up on the current lingo. She tells me an expression, and then instructs me on proper usage. I never could get the hang of "on Dogs" (it means "I swear"–go figure) but I seem to have mastered "As you should"–something you say to someone after they do something well.

I love language and all its permutations, so of course I'm drawn to the latest in teen-speak. Also, as an editor who writes headlines for stories and columns, I need to be au courant. Of course, slanging it up with my granddaughter is not so much work as fun. She high-fives me when I manage to "get it" and I try not to be daunted by her eye rolls when my use of an expression marks me as an old fuddy duddy (my expression; not hers).

And now I have Carl Pickhardt, a therapist who specializes in adolescence, to pat me on the back and remind me that such games have a deeper meaning and are an important way to connect across the generation (or two) gap. His weekly column is written for parents, but his comments are relevant for us.

"To the degree that parents can bridge the generational difference with interest," he writes, "this can reduce its potentially estranging influence. For example, they can encourage a very powerful and esteem-filling power reversal in their relationship when they treat the adolescent as “expert” and themselves as "unknowing," with their adolescent as teacher and themselves as student. " Such "power reversals" could be asking them about their music or how to play the video game they've got under their thumbs.

Slang has not been my only entry point, though some are more fleeting than others. Last year, I was visiting my Albany-based grandkids. My grandson had spent the previous evening at a high school dance, sweating himself into exhaustion doing the Whip and the Ne-Ne. I asked for a demonstration. I tried it myself. He smiled politely. When I returned for a visit several months later and asked after the Whip and Ne-Ne, I learned I was quite "out of it" (my expression; not his). The Whip and Ne-Ne have been replaced. I didn't ask with what. I rested on my fuddy-duddiness. As I should.
PARENTING GROWN CHILDREN: The children may be grown but we still have our issues.

Little Emperors: Complaints Chinese parents have about their grown children. It may sound familiar.

06/22/2018

**

We've read a lot about our helicoptered kids. They're the one who, as young adults, have gotten used to their parents overseeing life's key decisions. Their parents have been spotted going on job interviews with them and even calling their bosses to complain when they believe their child has been treated unfairly in the work place.

We've also got our entitled young–and older–adults who think the world, to say nothing of their parents, should bend to their needs. These are the kids who expect–and are not particularly gracious about receiving–a parental allowance, even though some of them are grown up with children of their own. There are those who call this a "brat allowance."

Well, small world: Chinese parents have, according to a professor at China's Renmin University, "birthed a generation of freeloaders who feel entitled to leech off their own parents."

China's one-child policy is partly to blame, professor Zhang Ming writes. As he details his observations about these "Little Emperors,**" his commentary begins to sound familiar.

"Even after helping them find jobs and planning their whole lives out for them, a generation of so-called helicopter parents still feels compelled to help their kids buy a house. Lucky are those whose kids only ask for help with the deposit and don’t expect their parents to help them make their monthly mortgage payments, too."

In our country, recent surveys find that roughly one-third of Millennials hoping to buy a house will be relying on a loan/gift from a parent, grandparent or other relative to help with some or all of the downpayment. There's been less follow-up on how many of us continue to help with the monthly mortgage payment.

Zhang Ming has more to report. When parents don't come up with the cash fast enough, the grumblings of Chinese adults

"are a fixture of social media feeds, where they whine about their parents having the temerity to suddenly go on a trip or moan about their in-laws playing mahjong instead of giving that money to their grandkids instead."

Evidently, it's woe unto the grandparents as well.

"Many grown children remain reliant on their parents for financial assistance even after they’ve had kids of their own, thereby perpetuating the cycle of freeloading into a third generation — except the grandkids don’t turn to their own parents for help. Instead, both generations sponge off their grandparents together."

It wasn't always so. Zhang Ming says he asked many parents of these Little Emperors whether they had turned to their parents for help and support. Just like many of us tell our children or friends, those parents tell Zhang they never asked their parents for anything, not even "for a single yuan" and then, like many of us, they reel off the the challenges they overcame to get where they are today, including supporting their parents— not the other way around.

Zhang Ming's conclusion about what he calls China's "kidult" problem:

China’s young people are paying the price of the country’s rapid urbanization drive. The high costs of migrating and living in cities have drawn multiple generations into the financial orbit of their youngest relatives, exacerbating a psychological disconnect between what is appropriate to demand from one’s elders and what is appropriate to give. The resulting emotional tug-of-war often does more harm than good. But these reasons do not begin to explain the degree to which parents are expected to support their kids, however, or how kids came to feel so entitled to their parents’ money in the first place.

**‘Little Emperors‘ is a name that refers to only children in China after the one-child policy was implemented. Attributed most frequently to increased spending power within the family unit and the parents’ desire for their child to experience the benefits they were denied, the syndrome results from the children’s sole command of the attention of their parents and grandparents.
PARENTING GROWN CHILDREN: The children may be grown but we still have our issues.

Observation: Seth Meyers on parents giving grown kids job advice

06/05/2018

If his parents were our friends and rambled on about their son's brilliant career, we wouldn't consider them braggarts. Seth Meyers has been a star on such comedic biggies as Saturday Night Live and the Late Night show and was host of the Golden Globes in 2018.

Maybe his parents don't talk a lot about their son–I have no idea; I don't know them. But Seth Meyers tells us (via comedian Jerry Seinfeld's Netflix series Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee) that his dad, whose expertise is finance, used to give him lots of career advice and critique his comedic approach–even when he was on SNL. Over the years, Meyers reported, his dad had some worthwhile comedic pointers to offer. But sometimes the tips not only came too often but were unhelpful on many levels.

Here's what Meyers told Seinfeld he told his dad about the advice-giving business, especially as it relates to child-parent relationships:

“I remember saying to him, ‘You’ve done a very good job of being a tough, honest critic with me. I no longer need it. So you have to shift from what you’ve been doing to a completely different role–of support.’”

Meyers and his dad have weathered the advice-giving shoals. You can see how well the family gets along on the above video, one of occasional Late Night segments called The Meyers Family.
PARENTING GROWN CHILDREN: The children may be grown but we still have our issues.

Bank of Mom and Dad: What to do and how to do it when it’s time to close the helping hand

05/23/2018

Some of us tap into our retirement accounts or we delay retirement: We need the money to keep up with the relentless press of supporting our grown kids. Or grandkids. It may not be full support–just help with the rent, the cell phone bill or car payments. Sometimes it's a monthly stipend to defray their cost of living. For one of my friends, it was to pay for a major expense–the cost of a surrogate mother so a daughter could start a family. (The ensuing twins, priceless.) Another couple played venture capitalist and put money into their son's daring new business–which has since attracted real-life, Silicon Valley venture capitalists.

Whatever it is we're doing–and with whatever rationale we have for doing it–there comes a time when we want to or have to close the bank of mom and dad. The tipping point is different for every family; let us not judge our neighbor.

That said, when Closing Time comes, here are some tips from financial experts on how to tighten the fiduciary fist.

Set boundaries: One end of that boundary is to Just Say No. Make it clear that you will not provide assistance anymore. But if that isn't going to work for you–if it's too harsh or doesn't fit your situation–set financial boundaries, such as how long this will continue and how much cash will be involved. In some situations, you're doing yourself and your kin a favor. When support continues into a grown child's 30s and 40s, you may be an enabler: preventing your kids or grandkids from becoming independent and living within their means.

Make it legal: If you decide to be the mortgage banker for your grown child's home purchase, act like a bank. Have a lawyer draw up a contract complete with dates when payments are due. Of course, you don't have to be the banker–for a mortgage or other large loan. You can walk your grown child into a bank–and even co-sign the loan (if you're sure you don't need to be paid back). That way, the bank is the debt collector, not you. Financial experts note that people are less likely to repay family members than they are a bank. Many of us do help out with the first-home down payment–not because are kids have been spendthrifts but because of student debt. Student loan debt seems to be the biggest obstacle standing in the way of young people buying their own home.

Use it to educate: However much money you decide you can afford to shower on your kin–a grown child or a grandchild–it should be a gift with no strings attached. Yes, they may squander it, but even grown children need to fall down and scrape their knees. Gifting them money that they may use unwisely is better than using your credit card to bail them out.

Get a second opinion: If you're lending money for a new or on-going business, don't limit yourself to your and your child's take on the business plan. Get an opinion from someone not directly involved in the business. And agree to specific terms–how much and when it will be paid back (if you hope to be paid back).
PARENTING GROWN CHILDREN: The children may be grown but we still have our issues.

The Book Beat: What we want to know about the gifts we give our Grand kids.

05/14/2018

The complaint was about whether a book given as a birthday present to a young reader had been properly read and appreciated. The complainant, writing to Philip Galanes (NYTimes, Social Qs) was an aunt who had given her niece a copy of a book that had been a childhood favorite of hers. But the niece showed no sign of having read it. The letter writer asked whether or not she should call this slight to the attention of the young reader's parents.

Many of us–especially those of us who are long-distance grandparents–are wandering in the same wilderness as the letter-writing aunt. Not only do we want to know the book we sent was received (and be properly thanked for it) but also that it is now a beloved favorite of the recipient. Actually, some of us are like me and we want more: We'd like to talk about the book with our Grand on Skype or FaceTime or even by text. A book–its plot, its characters, its setting–can be a helpful conversation starter, especially when we live far from our children and are out of the loop of their daily lives. It can be a chance to bond over a mutual love. Or, equally delightful, agree to disagree.

No surprise to report that Galanes does not condone pressuring parents to pressure the child to read the birthday-present book. Let me use his exact words:

"There's a difference between a book report and a birthday present: Your niece may read the book when she likes, but she's not required to….We all have our childhood favorites, but I'd let this one slide. Let your niece discover the book in her own time."

Galanes knows whereof he speaks. And yet I understand the aunt's disappointment. I, too, have sent books to various Grands, and now that some of them are young teens, the range of favorites I want to share with them has expanded exponentially. I send the book. I hear no more. When I go visit, sometimes I tell them why I chose a particular set of books–what it was about them that I found so intriguing. But if I may pat myself on the back (and gain some Galanes approval points)–I don't go any further than that. They'll either find time to read the books or they won't. Maybe two years from now they'll pick one up. Maybe they'll even text with a belated thank you for introducing them to the writer or the story.

Maybe they will. More likely they won't. But they have the books, they came with my imprimatur. That'll have to do.
PARENTING GROWN CHILDREN: The children may be grown but we still have our issues.

Refilled Nests: When Boomerangers come back, we don’t like it.

05/03/2018

No less an authority than the London School of Economics tells us that we suffer when our adult kids return home to live with us. There is, the newest research finds, a decline in parental quality of life and well being when our adult children return to live with us.

This is based on research and surveys in Europe–not here. That said, roughly a quarter of young adults in the UK and throughout Europe are living with their parents — the highest number since records began in 1996. The move home is driven by the unaffordably high cost of housing and job insecurity on the part of our adult kids.

When these adults return home to an empty nest–that is, no other children are still at living at home–our brothers and sisters over there experience loss of ‘feelings of control, autonomy and pleasure in everyday life’–regardless of the reason the children returned home.

How deep do those feelings run? Pretty far down. The scale for quality of life measures ranges from 12 to 48. When a child returns home to a previously empty nest (and it's not for the purposes of parental support), researchers found that the parental score went down by an average of 0.8 points. That's a big enough drop, researchers said, to be similar to developing an age-related disability, such as difficulties with walking or getting dressed. Oooph.

Here's the bottom line from Dr. Marco Tosi, one of the authors of the study. :

"When children leave the parental home, marital relationships improve and parents find a new equilibrium. They enjoy this stage in life, finding new hobbies and activities. When adult children move back, it is a violation of that equilibrium."

And then there's this from British therapist and author Andrew Marshall:

‘Living with adult children can be destructive for trapped nesters’ relationships. Lack of privacy means the biggest casualty is the parents’ sex lives – just when they were beginning to recover from years concentrating on the family – and the children can also take a lot of the emotional focus a couple should be giving to each other again.’

To say nothing of single parents with an eye on dating and putting a little more zip into their social life.
PARENTING GROWN CHILDREN: The children may be grown but we still have our issues.

Observation: Cheryl Strayed and Steve Almond on supporting grown kids financially

04/23/2018

Writing on The Sweet Spot, Cheryl Strayed and Steve Almond tackle a question from a reader about financial support for their grown children and if it's fair to withdraw that support while they are still dependent on the parents.

Cheryl Strayed:

You’ve been deeply generous because you wanted to provide your children with an education, security, comfort and ease. Well done. Now you must be deeply generous in another, seemingly paradoxical way: by giving your grown children the gift of independence and self-sufficiency.

They don’t pay for their own way in the world for one reason and only one reason: because you do. I encourage you to stop doing it. Allow your adult children to find a way to do it instead. And allow them to struggle with doing it.

By providing all that you provide your kids at this point in their lives, you’re preventing them from learning how to problem solve, sacrifice, persevere, and suffer and benefit from the consequences of their own decisions. In other words, from becoming adults.

Steve Almond:

The reason it’s been challenging for you to stop paying for your kids is because it’s a reversal of the way you’ve operated since your kids were born. They needed something, and you paid for it. That made sense for a time. But it doesn’t make sense now, and it hasn’t for a while. Your children aren’t children anymore and they don’t truly need you to pay for their lives, even if they find it convenient that you do.

Part of being a good parent is modeling healthy boundaries for our children, and this is ultimately that. In establishing yourself as a person who knows and states her limits, you’re showing them how to do that too.
PARENTING GROWN CHILDREN: The children may be grown but we still have our issues.

Parenting Grown Children: Tips on keeping in touch and keeping that touch personal

04/16/2018

photo: Palo Coleman

For those of us who don't see our adult children on a daily or weekly basis, whose children don't live in the same city, time zone or country, communication can be a challenge.

There's texting. Short and to the point, it's good for details–"I'm de-planing. Meet you at baggage claim in 10 minutes;" "Dad's birthday is tmw–I'm just saying." An emoji–a happy face, rainbow or birthday cake–can add a little flavor, charm or even humor. But texting is not a fulsome means of discussing anything that needs nuance or explaining.

E-mail is a longer form of texting. It feels like there's more space and time to write something meaningful. But like texting, it's flat and tone deaf. Stick in what you think is a witty line or a line of humor and it may come across as a scold.

There have been times when Paterfamilias and I have looked at an email or text from one of our kids and thought, "They're keeping their distance." It ain't necessarily so.

Facebook comments are a form of communication. But here it's parent beware: You may enjoy reading about what your kids are doing and thinking–and of advice they're seeking. But they are seeking it from their peers. There are some adult children who enjoy having their parents join in a discussion, but before you hit that comment box, bear in mind that most adult kids don't want to know their parents are reading along–or feel their parents are monitoring their lives.

That leaves the old-fashioned way: the telephone.

We're told by the experts (generally people younger than we are) that our grown children–whether in their 20s, 30s or 40s–do not answer their phones, preferring to hear messages or texts. We can verify. This is true. But one East Coast dad tells me he pre-arranges phone calls with his West Coast son via text-based appointment. As in, he'll send a text: "Can we talk tmw?" and he'll get a one-liner back setting a time.

The calls–whether it's a straight call, Skype or Facetime–do not lack for emotional tone on your part or theirs (unless one of you is a fine actor). But there are frustrations, especially when both the mom and dad are speaker-phoned on the line or sitting together in front of the Skype or Facetime screen.

Three-ways are a problem. You think you're going down one road with a conversation–maybe you even have an agenda or an issue you want to raise–but then the other parent horns in with a question or comment that takes the conversation in a different direction.

Our East Coast friend says that's the point of the pre-arranged call. It is a one-on-one. His son is calling him and only him. He and his wife–the mom–have a rule that only one parent at a time talks to their son or daughter. It leads to more satisfying conversations and feeling of closeness.

There is one hitch to the East Coast dad's system. Sometimes his West Coast son calls at the pre-arranged time and his wife–the mom–picks up and has a long, lovely conversation with her son while the dad taps his toe in frustration. The rule of the house is sometimes a harsh master.
PARENTING GROWN CHILDREN: The children may be grown but we still have our issues.

Bank of Mom and Dad: Five tips for handling gifts or loans to grown kids.

04/05/2018

We are our children's bankers–at least we start off that way. When our children are young and living under our wing, we try to teach them the value of money and how the financial world works. How else will they grow up to make responsible financial decisions.

Despite our best parental advice, they may start their independent lives off fiscally wobbly–wobblier than we were at their age. They may have hefty bills to pay: college and car loans and smart phone services. The world we came to independence in may not jibe with the financial experiences our young adult kids are having today.

All of which begs the question: At what point should we expect our children to be self-sufficient? When does the Bank of Mom and Dad close? It's an emotional as well as financial question.

Financial planners and advisers generally stick to the fiscal side of the equation. So let's do that as well. First up is the question of whether we can afford to keep the bank open. That is, can we help our kids without impoverishing ourselves or stripping our retirement savings. If we clear that hurdle, here are some tips from the experts that we might not have thought about.

Set clear expectations: Have a heart-to-heart with the bank's "client" about what we are prepared to help them with and to what extent. If it's ongoing support, the bankers should set a time limit for how long we'll keep doing this. We might ask them to make a contribution rather than giving them all of what they need.

Act like a banker:If our child went to a real bank to borrow money they would need to disclose their assets, debts, income and expenses so the bank could decide whether to lend or not. No reason why the bank of mom and dad shouldn't do the same. We need to understand why our child is in the situation they are in. If we expect money to be repaid, we need to know how likely it is that this will happen.

Get legal advice for large sums: Payback disputes happen. To avoid them , have a written loan agreement. If your adult child has a partner, there may be legal issues if the relationship ends. Will the loan or gift become relationship property? These are some of the issues that need legal advice.

Consider your other children:They ought to know upfront about what help we are giving their brother or sister and why. Sibling rivalry exists, and your other children can feel deeply hurt by being treated unequally unless they understand the reasons. You can address the equality issue by making adjustments to how you divide your estate, taking into account prior assistance.

Complications if there's a divorce: It's a remote possibility but a possibility nonetheless that if we consistently –that is on, say, an annual basis–gift our child money that improves the family’s lifestyle, it could effect support obligations if the marriage falls apart. In a Canadian case, a judge considered those gifts to be part of the son's income for determining support obligations.
PARENTING GROWN CHILDREN: The children may be grown but we still have our issues.

March for Our Lives: Being there to support kids and grandkids in their cause.

03/28/2018

One of the many things I loved about parenting when my kids were young and living with us was the opening up of new universes based on interests my kids developed. If they got involved in gymnastics–as my daughter did–it was up to us to get her to practices, cheer her on at meets and shuttle her to the orthopedist when the injuries occurred. But we also learned a whole lot about the world of competitive gymnastics. (Fortunately, this was well before the evils of sexual abuse at the elite level surfaced.) It was a fascinating world we never would have known about if our daughter hadn't had her heart set on the Olympics–a desire that faded when she turned thirteen and found she preferred the piano.

I thought back to those days when Paterfamilias (above) and I Metro-ed to Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington D.C. to rally for gun control. We were one of the 800,000. We believe fervently in the need to get military weapons off the streets, out of homes and far, far away from schools. But we also felt we were there on behalf of our grandkids–none of whom live in the Washington area.

They were equally–if not more–involved in the issue. They protested and gathered in their own cities with their friends. They didn't need us to show them the way, but we felt we were there for them–supporting them in a cause that effects them on a visceral and immediate level. #EnoughIsEnough.

Plus we got them tee shirts. That's also what grandparents do.

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