<p>"Blame the economy. And get the spare bedroom ready.</p>
<p>The recent wave of young adults returning to live with their parents has spawned the term 'boomerang generation,' named for the object that turns after you throw it and sails back to you -- a painful event if you weren't expecting it. Similarly, if you've recently found your grown children asking to move back in, you may be experiencing pains of your own.</p>
<p>Naturally, most parents are more than willing to make sacrifices for their children, and will make accommodations for them when they are in need. However, when young adults return home, it shouldn't be to experience a second childhood. Parents need a game plan to make the arrangement bearable, get the kids on track to move back out, and most of all, help them finally achieve financial and social independence.</p>
<p>In other words, parents need a plan for straightening their boomerangs ..."</p>
<p>I know a family with 2 boomerang kids and it doesn’t sound pretty. One just graduated with no job yet and the other got divorced with a 4 year old and is back home. Sent 2 out and got 3 back.</p>
<p>I see no need to straighten out a boomerang if the boomerang’s life doesn’t need straightening out and nobody is unhappy with the arrangement.</p>
<p>One of our executives at my office has her 25-year-old daughter living with her right now, although she lived elsewhere for several years. The daughter is in a graduate program at a university within commuting distance of her parents’ home. She thought it would be convenient to live with her parents, and the parents like having her around. Where’s the problem?</p>
<p>If you read the seven steps, you’ll see that they are sensible ways to treat a grown child living at home more than they are ways to solve a problem–I think they were all pretty wise.</p>
<p>I don’t think many see those in graduate programs as being boomerang kids. I think they’re referring to those who are not in school and not employed.</p>
<p>Our S is a boomerang with a sensible plan. I don’t think he’ll need “straightening,” but this advice is really useful anyway. Tip #2 explains my gut instinct to do a room makeover. I’m boxing up his childhood stuff, painting, getting rid of excess furniture, and making it into an adult room. It’s not that I want to make it comfortable for him to stay. It just feels unhealthy for him to move back into it as-is. (I never did much while he was in college because of inertia, not lack of interest.) Instead of charging rent, I like the idea of putting “rent” in a savings account so he gets used to not having that money. Also, since he’s an aspiring chef, he’ll be getting lots of practice in our kitchen.</p>