"I love my niece, but she is 18 and afraid of her own shadow. She is academically brilliant, but way behind her peers when it comes to independence. Her parents basically smothered her socially and emotionally. She can't drive, doesn't date, and has never gone to hang out at a friend's house (her parents want to monitor her at home)."
"Last year, we had a beach vacation on an island. I sent my niece to the grocery store down the lane for more ice. You get on and off a tram. It is a straight shot. My 10 and 12-year-old nephews learned it the first day. My niece took the wrong one and went in the opposite direction. Rather than just getting back on the tram, she had a panic attack and needed to be picked up."
The niece is 18, academically brilliant, but emotionally and socially dependent due to overprotective parents. She cannot drive, does not date, and has never been allowed to visit friends unsupervised. During a vacation she took the wrong tram, panicked, and required pickup. She was admitted to a prestigious nearby university and her parents are pressuring a relative to host her instead of living in dorms, citing fairness. The relative fears enabling continued dependence and family conflict from parental hovering. The relative is advised to evaluate willingness to host, set clear expectations, and decline politely if hosting is not a good fit.
Read at Slate Magazine
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]