If My Parents Were Aging Moochers, They Could Only Pry My Money From My Cold, Dead Hands

parentNo matter how old you get, you still have to deal with your parents. Your parents are the people who shaped you and supported you throughout your formative years, or maybe they’re just the jerks that screwed you up. I have a little of column A and a little of column B in my parenting pool myself.

Because of this, I have very strong feelings about parents being parents, no matter how old a child is. I had a lot of adult responsibility put on me at a young age, and I firmly believe that parents should continue their parental role for the rest of their lives, no excuses.

I’ve already thought a great deal about how I’m going to treat my adult kids. I plan to pay for their dinners. I plan to always buy them Christmas gifts, even when they’re 40 years old. I will always offer free babysitting as a grandparent. This model of adult parenting comforts me, and I don’t think there is a specific age when a grown parent stops being a parent.

I recently read an article about adults that have to lie to their parents about how much money they make. Why would they do this? Because their grown parents still have boundary issues and would be perfectly happy mooching off the success of their kids. Yes, you heard me right. I find this gross and inappropriate in every way.

The woman in the article actually went into credit card debt trying to help out her parents. She now makes a successful $70,000 a year salary that she can’t be proud of in the presence of her parents. No, she has to lie to her parents about her career success so that they don’t continue to guilt her and try to siphon money from her.

This parenting situation bugs me so much I can’t stand it. When I was young, my dad constantly made me feel guilty about money because of his own poverty/hoarder mentality. He and I currently have a rocky relationship, but you better believe that if he ever tried to mooch money off me, I would say hell to the no.

Because of my completely biased point of view, I don’t find it appropriate to support adult parents. While not every parent may be rich, financially supporting a child is part of the game plan from day one. Just because a kid grows into an adult doesn’t mean it’s their responsibility to cover for a moochy parent.

(photo: Getty Images)

Similar Posts