""Who's paying for this?" asked my 22-year-old son when I drove him to the mechanic to pick up his car after an oil change. "You are," I said without hesitation. As I watched him walk into the office after I dropped him off, I shook my head in confusion. Why had he asked me who would pay? It was his car, after all, and he had been working full-time since graduating from college this spring and moving back home."
"However, my husband and I had paid for car repairs when he was in college and wasn't working. As I thought about it, he was still on our car insurance, too. With his entry-level job, it just made more financial sense than getting his own insurance, allowing him to save more money for his future. I guess his question of who was paying for that oil change was more of a gray area than I first thought."
"Since my son moved back home after graduation, I've been surprised by how confusing my role as a parent has become. I play different roles in my son's life now Some days it feels like we're roommates sharing a house. My son comes and goes on his own schedule, and entire days can go by without me seeing him. I find this odd since he's living in his childhood bedroom, and I expected our paths would cross daily."
My 22-year-old son moved back home after graduating college and working full-time, which created confusing parental roles. He asked who would pay for an oil change, prompting surprise because he owns the car and is employed. The parents had covered repairs during college and kept him on their car insurance to help him save money with an entry-level salary. Those arrangements created gray areas about financial responsibility. Household dynamics alternate between feeling like roommates—rare direct interaction, abandoned laundry, disappearing snacks—and feeling like peers, sharing adult conversations about work and world events. The parent is allowing time and space to adapt to the new normal.
#adult-child-moving-home #post-college-transition #financial-responsibility #changing-parent-child-roles
Read at Business Insider
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