Jan 30, 2023
If we're being honest, this happens to all parents at one point or another: Our grown kids disappoint us. But it remains one of the toughest things to talk about openly as we still believe (somewhere deep inside) that the poor/unpopular decisions our kids make reflects badly on who we are as parents.
Whether we judge ourselves for their choices -- or we fear being judged by others -- we often remain selective about what we share when our grown kids make choices we don't like.
And why do we do this? According to Dr. Jane Adams, author of, When Our Grown Kids Disappoint Us: Letting Go of Their Problems, Loving Them Anyway, and Getting on with Our Lives, the reason is GUILT. Plain and simple. We blame ourselves.
But, according to Dr. Jane Adams, we need to learn to let go of the guilt and get back to loving our kids for who they are -- no matter if we agree with their life choices or not. Her book -- and this episode -- is a must if you're struggling with your kids' choices and blaming yourself.
Abby and Julie kick off the episode discussing Julie's belief that podcast guests prefer Abby -- which Abby strongly disputes.