alegziz wrote:
I want to start an adopt-a-teenager charity, I swear.
I'm really lucky; my parents are letting me live in their basement till I can afford the down for a house, which will be a lot easier to scrape together without the rent in the meantime. And even though there's six of us, our parents have managed to help everyone with food and or tuition and or rent. I'm 24, I graduate in a couple months with my bachelor's, and I'll start paying below-market rent when I start a real job. So I'm all for parental assistance till economics make it impossible.
That being said, it's much easier for my parents and my Aspie brother to get along at a distance; someone would likely have beed murdered or seriously damaged if they were all in the same house with me. I don't know if Dad, little brother, or I would've snapped first, but it would be bad. And I can only handle being as close to my parents as I am because I have my own kitchenette and door. So, adopt-a-teen, or even swap-a-teen, would be enourmously helpful to a lot of people. Especially since rent costs as much or more than mortgage most of the time, but you can't save up for the down on a house if all your money is going to rent. Teen or young adult, I should say.
Consider this: there have been places and times where it was perfectly normal for people to stay around family for their entire lives. It simplifies childcare, it makes housing less costly, and it provides emotional support, especially if it's considered normal. So what's with this "go away the instant I can legally kick you out" nonsense? It's not like the minute someone turns 18 they magically aquire the ability to deal with life with no support structure, and anymore in the U.S. you pretty much can't get a job that pays enough to live on without a college degree or being willing to haul garbage or do something similarly undesireable.
So, go you for not expecting your son to leave before he's ready; and you're right about nothing being wrong with it.
I like the idea of families staying together and watching out for each other. If my kids stayed with me forever, as long as they were working to be self-sufficeint eventually so my last thought when I did won't be worrying about what they'll do without me, I'd love it.
On the other hand, there's no way I could have stayed with my parents. They'd love it but they aren't people you could live with and stay sane.
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Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.
03 Nov 2007, 11:56 am
