<p>Interesting article:</p>
<p>As parents, boomers face their final frontier: how to stand aside as their children become independent adults. Where's the line between caring and coddling?"</p>
<p>Excerpt:</p>
<p>Letting go. Are there two more painful words in the boomer-parent lexicon? One minute, there's an adorable, helpless bundle in your arms. Then, 18 years go by in a flash, filled with Mommy and Me classes, Gymboree, Little League, ballet, drama club, summer camp, traveling soccer teams, piano lessons, science competitions, SAT prep classes and college visits. The next thing you know, it's graduation. Most boomers don't want to be "helicopter parents," hovering so long that their offspring never get a chance to grow up. Well versed in the psychological literature, they know that letting go is a gradual process that should begin when toddlers take their first steps without a parental hand to steady them. And hovering is certainly not a new phenomenon; both Gen. Douglas MacArthur and President Franklin Delano Roosevelt had mothers who moved to be near them when they went to college. But with cell phones and e-mail available 24/7, the temptation to check in is huge. Some boomer parents hang on, propelled by love (of course) and insecurity about how the world will treat their children. After years of supervising homework, they think nothing of editing the papers their college students have e-mailed them. A few even buy textbooks and follow the course syllabi. Later they're polishing student r</p>
<p>well I am only 47 ( 48?) so this doesn't apply to me ;)
The people I know- are pretty much excited about their kids leaving home- it sure beats the alternative!
I have one friend who has a disabled daughter who may eventually live in a group home someday- but not for a few more years although she is 18- and my sisters oldest has been living at home since she graduated college last year and there is no sign of her moving out.
This is what we raise them for- to be adults- I haven't quite taught her all I needed to- but I expect she will pick up the rest someplace- I did- pretty much anyway.....</p>
<p>Enjoyed the article, digmedia. Thanks.</p>