So what is a parent to do if, after raising their kid as best they could, their grown child begrudges them for how they were raised or how said parent handled a particular issue? Arguably the most important and difficult step is the first one, which is to listen to your child without interrupting or begging to differ. Viola Drancoli , PsyD, a clinical psychologist. Either way, the more open and non-defensive you can listen, the better.
5 tips for relating to your now-adult child
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Step 1: Listen without interjecting
Have you ever wondered why the love of a mother to her child is called unconditional? Any mother loves her kids, whether they are daughters or sons, no matter what. Life is an unpredictable thing; it can bring you quite a few unpleasant surprises. This is the way we see it. However, the communication between a mom and a son can be way too far from the warm one. The differences in age so-called generation gap , the differences in worldviews, the difference in gender — all of these usually cause some difficulties when discussing something. However, family ties are one of the most beautiful things in the world and they can help you to overcome even such significant things, as the clash of views on the situations.
The discussion has been stoked by the first scholarship on regret; Israeli sociologist Orna Donath thrust it into the spotlight with her book Regretting Motherhood: A Study , based on interviews with 23 Israeli women, all anonymous, aged 26 to 73, five of them grandmothers. Frank Bauer. In pushing the boundaries of accepted maternal response, however, something else is happening: a small group of women are reframing motherhood, an institution increasingly idealized and commodified to near-absurd ends.
