I took time to inwardly focus on how much I love her and how much I wish for her. Then I talked to her with as much intensity and gentleness as I could, telling her the story about the day she was born, and how I burst with love and commitment for her, and what my wishes and hopes were for her then and now. I didn’t say anything about the matters which had been in contention. She cried and said, “Now I don’t even feel like keeping that plan…” and I won’t ramble about details, but there was a change. Every child needs at least one significant adult who is irrationally positive about them. Be that person in your child’s life. They may be struggling with the clichéd negative attitudes towards post-menopausal women; they may be leaving work without wanting to retire; they may not have anticipated the next phase of their lives being different, so any sense of rejection by their children may feel particularly hurtful. Mothers told me that they are constantly trying to balance what is on and not on for them to say. To some extent they live in fear of getting it wrong and for the relationship to break down because of something small they got wrong.” It could be an opinion, a criticism or a random comment that is seen as aggressive.

There may be overlap and outliers in these decades—for example, more than 10 million millennialsare currently caregivers for a parent or grandparent—but these are among the general milestones and markers for young adults:

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Do things you love together.If you loved shopping with your daughter when shewas a teen, there’s no reason to stop now. Maybe this is a time to discover new things you both love. Whatever traditions, hobbies, or activities appeal to you and your adult child, commit to enjoying them together on a regular basis. I love my adult daughter very much! We were close until she turned 23. We did everything together and we showed love and respect for each other.

There were a couple of points I didn't completely agree with. For example, he had some different counsel/reaction than I think I would regarding "children not embracing my values" and I didn't agree with his attitude toward the culture and its effect on our children. He seems to think it's expected that culture will influence our children more than we can and we just have to accept it. I don't think it has to be that way, nor do I think it is good to just passively give in. This has happened over and over again. I am wondering if I should give up or maybe try to go for professional counselling. I really want to have a healthy relationship with her but I don’t live in the same city. Does anyone have any advice?? Please help! I have always been a single parent, but when my husband died 7 years ago, I became the only parent to my two children. They were fortunately both able to go to university and study to be Chartered Accountants. They both passed and are currently doing their Articles. During that time though, I had to sell our property and made the unfortunate decision to buy a property jointly with my neighbour. The main reason I bought this property jointly, was because it had a separate flat area for my kids after they finished studying. I knew that they wouldn’t be able to afford their own accommodation so made yet another sacrifice in buying with a virtual stranger (whom I thought I knew at the time). Turned out that he is a complete Narcissist and made impossible rules for my children to adhere to. But, then also, the kids did not keep their space clean although they insisted on paying rent and paying for their own domestic worker to come once a week.The first thing I'd like to say to parents reading this book is "Love ... always hopes." - 1 Corinithians 13:7. At lunch 80% momentum: I have total faith in our love and in our wonderful family”. 20% intensity: We need you. When tough things happen we need YOU. I’ve probably never said this, and I’m not sure I’ll succeed now in communicating this to you – but the kind of words and actions that would help us include: (call.. send card.. etc)