Parenting doesn't end when your children reach adulthood—in many ways, it becomes more complicated. When adult children make poor decisions, parents find themselves in an emotional minefield, torn between wanting to help and knowing when to step back.

Ashley and Traci open up about their personal struggles parenting adult children who sometimes make choices that leave them questioning everything. With raw honesty, they share the crippling worry, the midnight panic, and the overwhelming urge to swoop in and fix everything—feelings that will resonate with any parent whose grown child has faced challenges with finances, relationships, mental health, or substance issues.

The heart of this conversation centers around seven crucial strategies they've learned through experience and therapy: communicating without interrogating, setting firm boundaries, avoiding enabling behaviors, sticking to your limits, managing your emotions separately from your interactions, maintaining unconditional love despite difficult behavior, and perhaps most importantly, continuing to live your own life rather than measuring your wellbeing by your children's choices.

"I'm doing as well as my kids are," Traci admits, highlighting the unhealthy mindset many midlife parents develop. Both hosts acknowledge how difficult it is to break this pattern, especially as natural "fixers" who want to smooth every path for their children. But they also explore the freedom that comes from separating your identity and happiness from your adult children's decisions—while still providing a supportive foundation.

Whether you're dealing with a child who constantly needs financial bailouts, struggles with addiction, makes poor relationship choices, or battles mental health issues, this episode offers both practical wisdom and emotional comfort. Join us for this deeply personal discussion about one of midlife's most challenging aspects, and discover how to support your adult children without sacrificing your own wellbeing.

Sources: https://firstthings.org/adult-children-poor-decisions/

1Hazeldon Betty Ford Foundation. (2018, August 24). Boundaries in Addiction Recovery.

2Smith, K. (2018, March 14). What Is the Difference Between Supporting and Enabling? PsychCentral.

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