It is a myth that you are finished parenting once they hit 18 years old. You are not finished at all, you are still very much in the game. But the game is harder, longer and you won't win every time!
Even as an adult a child needs you to step in sometimes, not be handed a sibling over to raise.
This is a long post, but it illustrates what the Radford kids are not getting..
Yesterday I gave up most of my day to support my adult child. They've struggled more than the younger kids with a recent family bereavement, as they were with the person we lost when they died and they're also trying to go for a promotion at work.
It's looking good, but the pressure is on.
Yesterday I had to gut that bedroom, pulling all the furniture out, replacing curtains & bedding, re-build wardrobe etc..because my kid can't cope with any extra stuff and was living in a dump.
I then got all this work stuff out and went through it when they came home. Started the shower running, chucked them in it, told the other kids to play (mess up the other rooms
) while I had a good long chat about pressure and time and loss and self care and all that.
What happens in that house when you're a young adult but hit a wall?
No-one's even going to notice are they? It's on to the next one before you've even got to nursery school.
I think people are seeing the light from what I can see on SM. But that doesn't help the dumped kids who are already here.
I hope they have other family nearby to go to if they need help, or respite from the chaos and responsibility.
