RULE 106
Don’t guilt-trip them
This is the other big lever some parents use to control their grown-up children: guilt. Some of them lay it on really thick too, but our children are sensitive creatures and even the most subtle guilt-tripping makes its point.
The most common subject of these guilt trips is the amount of attention the ‘child’ pays to their parent. Comments like, ‘Your sister phones every week’ or ‘I know you’re ever so busy at weekends. I wish I could say the same’, are all intended to make the kids feel bad about not spending more time with their parents. Even, ‘Oh, it’ll be so lonely here once you leave home’.
Look, let’s get something straight. Your kids owe you nothing. Nothing. I don’t care how much blood, sweat and tears ...
Get The Rules of Parenting, 3rd Edition now with the O’Reilly learning platform.
O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.
