There are individuals between the ages of 25-29 who are still staying at home with their parents. It is understandable if a person is going through college and he or she is still staying at home with their parents.  It is also understandable for an adult to stay with their parents, if they are going through financial situations. But why does an adult still stay with their parents if they have finished college or if they are financially stable?

As parents, we want to support our children to ensure that they have a better life than we had growing up. But when parents support their adult children past a certain stage in their life, the parent becomes an enabler instead of a supporter.

In many situations, the parent has been the one to come to the rescue in difficult circumstances.  Parents never want to see their child go through hard conditions or make mistakes. But the hard conditions and the mistakes help an individual to make the transformation from a child to an adult. A person learns how to make better decision, when he or she has learned from a mistake. It can become stressful having an adult child, instead of having a child who has grown into an adult.

A parent has to learn to set boundaries; what they are going to do to help their adult child. Instead of always coming to the rescue, help your adult child to form a plan to better his or her situation.  When your adult child needs to come home to better their situation, help them to set a goal to regain their independence.

Sometimes, tough love is needed to have a healthy relationship with your adult child. There is nothing wrong with being a supporter, but you do not want to become an enabler.