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Zoe Girl
6-26-16, 8:48pm
So lots of deep breathing, boundaries, etc in place here. I know what I can and can't do, but it is still so frustrating

My oldest sucks with money, big time. She has always seemed to choose friends who are a half step above homeless or have other issues, going back to when she was 15. She had other friends who went to college or did some more career type focus but they have dropped off. Meanwhile she has always worked and been responsible, I see lots of co-dependency here. I know that she used to help friends a lot. Throw in some ADD and several big traumas, and well here we are!

So the big things are that it just took her 3 years!!! to get a haircut. Not because she like her hair longer but it took 3 years to figure this out, have money and get her hair cut. It ended up being that her boyfriend traded some alcohol he got at wholesale price to a friend who is a hairdresser. Seriously, I offered a gift certificate for her to go to the hairdresser who does all our hair and then I was so sure she wouldn't get there that I just told her I would pay whenever she wanted to go. Her hair is super cute btw, She loves it. I have offered to pay for some dental work and her insurance is out in September but she has not made the appointments.

She lives 1/2 mile from me. She wants to borrow some DVD's but I let my son take the car to work. She actually walked the dog over today and met me downstairs to get the DVD's and brownies I made for her. It has taken months to get her to come over even that much ( I am not allowed visiting dogs at my apartment but it was a nice day so we played with the dog outside). I am trying to focus on this being a big step forward rather than the information I found out. The rent went up, their utilities are on shut off status every month, she still has 3 bills in collections, and they had the car repossessed 6 months ago but her dad helped them out.

Back to focusing on the fact she left the house and went on a walk by herself! She seems to have a hard time going anywhere alone besides work, even the grocery store.

mschrisgo2
6-27-16, 3:12am
Sounds to me like she is seriously clinically depressed.
Gosh, that's a hard way to live!

Ultralight
6-27-16, 7:17am
I think it is popular to assume that a parent takes care of a kid until their early 20s. Then the kid takes care of themselves.

And the parent can go back to mostly living their own life.

Then way down the road, as the parent ages and ails, the kid starts taking care of the parent.

But this is not always how it goes. Sometimes, for all sorts of reasons, the parent has to take care of the kid for the rest of their lives.

This is unfortunate, but a reality under certain circumstances.

An acquaintance of mine is in this position. Fortunately for her she is very well off financially. My suggestion for her is to set up a trust fund and hire people to take care of her daughter -- a maid, an accountant, etc.

But for folks who ain't got that kind of money, it simply means they have to "be there."

So you might just have to "be there" for your kid for the rest of her life -- bail her out of her problems whenever possible and just "be there" for her when you can't. This might feel very onerous to you. But this might just be the reality of the situation in perpetuity.

Zoe Girl
6-27-16, 8:19pm
Yeah, she may always be that kiddo who needs a little support. I honestly don't have a problem with it but then of course I want to control more of her choices! I know my mom has been clear when she has helped me at times financially, one time she did give me money specifically for a birthday tattoo, otherwise I would never use gifted money for anything but essentials. Her dad is the one who has the money, and he has been available. That was my biggest fear, to have a very well off dad and not be able to call him.

I am realizing that hopefully a lot of mindfulness on my part, being aware of how she feels criticized so easily, has helped her actually get out of her house and come over. It is not always that easy. Heck I am not sure I want to go to the next family Thanksgiving (but I will because my grandma is 94) because I can't stand the conversations about stupid drinking any more!!! I started watching some TV shows so that I have things to talk about,