Adult Children

Motherhood in America is based on a myth. We are taught to believe that we can parent perfectly when we can’t. The myth also says that we parent better than our parents and that we can change the pattern for future generations…

The role of mother-in-law is all over the place. As with most of your relatives, it’s not your choice to be related to the person who makes you a mother-in-law. But unlike your “blood” relatives, it is someone’s choice: your child’s. So this new person…

Have your adult children reached 50? My daughter has. How did that happen? I was 50 myself only a few months ago – or so it seems. When it comes to our children, time seems to work at a different pace. We do what we do…

Being an abandoned mom is more widespread than most people think. When asked about estranged children (parents, or family members), we are put in the awkward position of what to say. Saying too much, not saying enough…

Estrangement is a widespread and stigmatized condition when an individual cuts ties with one or more family members. Over one-quarter of the population deals with either an adult child or another family member’s decision to disconnect…

There are many reasons why a mother- and a daughter-in-law are quiet or reserved around each other. At times, people overstep the boundaries others have set up for them. That causes one party to be angry with the other…

Has anyone had the experience of giving birth over 40? Perhaps conflict and turbulence were an accepted part of your marriage or life without a partner and pregnancy? For sure, it was part of mine…

“How’s everything?” I innocently asked someone whom I hadn’t seen in a long time. She immediately said everything was fine. She added that one child was entering high school and the other starting his senior year in high school so…

The older we get, the more often we find ourselves looking back and musing on the trajectory of our lives. Did we get it right? Or is there, indeed, one right way? There are many dimensions to such questions, but here I want…

At some point, we women of a certain age start to question how much our offspring really know about us and our lives. All too often the answer comes back, “not much.” We live such fast-paced and overscheduled lives…