If you’re looking for some ideas to keep your young adult at home forever, I’ve come up with some great tips. These ideas will be especially helpful for parents of those who have decided that their education is complete or those who have completed college or trade school and are in imminent danger of moving out into the world.
- Make sure that you perform all of your parental cooking duties with regularity and without complaint. Do NOT trouble them with worrying about where their next meal is coming from and whether or not they have the time, energy or inclination to cook and clean up. Keep the fridge and pantry full of their favorite snacks and be willing to make a special trip to the store just as soon as a special item has been depleted.
- Do their laundry regularly. If they don’t put it in the laundry basket, you’ll have to gather it yourself. No respectable parent would ever allow their young adult offspring to be traumatized by running out of clean underwear! Be sure that when you clean their sheets you make the bed afterwards. After all, they didn’t ASK you to tear apart their bed.
- Don’t ask for any help with chores. After all, it’s YOUR house, so you shouldn’t impose YOUR standards of cleanliness on them. Even their own room should either be cleaned by you or left untouched. It’s ok though; since they will always be living with you, they will never need to learn to keep things tidy in order to successfully coexist with a roommate or a significant other. Besides, they need to use their spare time to play video games and catch up on their favorites shows.
- Ensure that they have the freedom to host friends both day and night. Don’t embarrass them by expecting them to ask you for permission. After all, they are adults now! When the boyfriend/girlfriend sleeps over, don’t make them feel awkward. They have their own room and nobody is bothering you. Leaving a tray of snacks outside their door is a very kind gesture.
- Always make sure you provide them with a nice vehicle to drive. Never expect them to be responsible for any aspect of said vehicle. A loving parent would provide a gas card, perform routine maintenance (oil changes) and clean the car regularly. Be sure you pay the insurance and that you place a valid insurance card inside the vehicle.
- Continue to pay their personal expenses. You’re expecting far too much if you expect them to buy their clothes, cell phone, car insurance, car expenses or any other cost that is directly attributed to them. Any parental expectations of this kind will negatively impact the stock prices of such companies as Starbucks, Pink, Apple and Game Stop. As you can see, if you were to expect financial accountability, you would be unpopular with not only your own family, but a wide range of shareholders as well!
- Don’t expect them to work at a job that is beneath their dignity. After all, wasn’t YOUR first job in management? Ok, I know, that was probably not the case. But you shouldn’t expect them to go to a place where the people in charge are mean to them when they do not perform as expected. Don’t encourage them to stay in such an abusive work environment.
If you follow all of the suggestions listed above, you can be relatively sure that they will never leave the nest. Just continue to keep up your part to ensure your reservation in the “good” nursing home.
If, however, your goal is to raise financially competent young adults who are able to move out on their own, check out some other articles by The Launch Lady. www.launchladylogic.com/about
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