[Azred]

Originally posted by MagiK: Based on Saucemans thread, and a recent post there...I found myself wondering the following. 1. How long (or two what age) are the parents obligated to allow their children to live at home rent and responsibility free? Rent free? Until the age of 15 or 16, at which point Belle and I expect TJ to find a job, at least part-time. He will use that money to cover his own food, gas, and a portion of the utilities (we'll probably cover any car payment). After the age of 18, we expect him to move into his own apartment, whether by himself or with roommates. Responsibility free? [img]graemlins/saywhat.gif[/img] We don't expect TJ to be free of responsibility now, at the age of 8. He straightens his room, puts his own dirty clothes in the hamper, wipes down his bathroom, etc. Nothing he can't really handle (cooking his own food, etc), because you can never begin too early in life to teach a child to be responsible. 2. Do parents have a responsibility to force their kids out of the family home at some point (like mother birds pushing the chicks out of the nest). Yes. Any person over the age of 18 who cannot begin to stand alone in the adult world--job, residence, bills, etc--is in one sense a failure. Yes, you can support your grown children if need be, but too much sheltering leads to circumstances like 25-year-olds who cannot manage a checking account without becoming overdrawn every month or 30-year-olds who live at home and don't bother looking for work. We know some people like that, and not only is it sad but we honestly feel sorry for those people. How can they live being so irresponsible? 3. Is there a point at which a parent does more harm to the child by shielding them from responsibility rather than thrusting them into the cold cruel world? Yes. Parents who shield their children too much wind up with children who cannot do anything without their parents' help. What a waste.