Dear Abby: Mother Laments slacker kids
Jan. 9th, 2018 11:13 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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cf_abby_tribute DEAR ABBY: I have grown children. All of them are underachievers. When contemporaries talk about their children getting jobs, getting married, having kids, going on vacation, buying a house/car, adopting a pet, I have nothing to contribute.
[How I wish she'd written to Carolyn Hax or New Prudie, instead. I'm thinking the kids' side of the story would be more like, "Dear Abby, I and my siblings have low-paid work, which was the only thing we could find in this economy. The only social thing we can afford is gathering at our shitty studio apartments for video games on our days off...."]
My children do not have lives; they work low-paying jobs and scrape by. Worse, they have no ambition to do better. They no longer live with me, but often gather at each other's places to play video games when they are not working. They are not enjoyable to be around.
My life is otherwise good, and I don't want them bringing me down. My marriage is solid, I work hard, we travel a few times a year and enjoy dining out and meeting with friends. We go to sporting events, live plays, concerts, movies, etc. What is a mother to do? -- LET DOWN IN MISSOURI
DEAR LET DOWN: Your children are adults. If they were motivated, they would be doing more with their lives than playing video games and scraping by. Be glad they are independent and have good relationships with each other -- it's a plus -- and continue living your life. You can't live theirs for them. And please stop comparing them to the offspring of your friends and acquaintances. If you do, you will be happier.
[How I wish she'd written to Carolyn Hax or New Prudie, instead. I'm thinking the kids' side of the story would be more like, "Dear Abby, I and my siblings have low-paid work, which was the only thing we could find in this economy. The only social thing we can afford is gathering at our shitty studio apartments for video games on our days off...."]
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Date: 2018-01-10 09:14 pm (UTC)I agree with you about the opposite side of the story-- sometimes privileged people are so out of touch, it is ridiculous! (see any article these days about millennials these days)
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Date: 2018-01-10 09:19 pm (UTC)Yeah, I get so pissed off when people bag on Millennials. They have worse prospects than we did (and those weren't great), and a bleaker future (401K? what's that?) I'm so done with throwing them under the bus to curry favor with Boomers.
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Date: 2018-01-14 02:03 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-01-14 03:03 am (UTC)