How old does a mom have to be before she gets to be ‘home alone’? To what lengths will she go to be home alone?
Well, one mom in Sicily wanted to find out. She hauled her 61 year old son to the police station after taking away his house keys and refusing to hand over his allowance. His crime? Out past curfew! See Yahoo news story. How many of us are in similar situations, though? Our kids may be 17, 23 or 35, but somehow they manage to just stay. We have plenty of reasons why they need to be with us – can’t get a job, keep a job, had a rough childhood, learning disabilities – and the list goes on.
The longer our kids live with us, though, the weaker and more dependent they become. We’re doing our offspring no favors by giving them extended shelter – beyond the occasional emergency.
Ask yourself, can my kid make it on his/her own? Do they currently contribute to the household in a meaningful way? Have they gotten more helpful over time?
Interested in moving your son or daughter into independence in a healthy way? Would you like help? Check the sidebar and click on the StandUp Parenting link to find a parent support group near you – StandUp for yourself and let other parents StandUp for you!

This site can be a place where StandUp Parents can discuss issues with getting support, can express feelings and frustrations and joys of parenting adolescents, teens, and adult children.

Have you been in situations where you feel the family is out of control? You thought you knew how your family behaved, but were thrown for a loop? How do you recover from a call from the police? A report from the school counselor that your child has been suspended? Your child not coming home from school… for the night?

This has been my reality. I sought support and I found it. I found it in a weekly meeting of other StandUp Parents. We care about our kids. We want to have a healthy relationship with them, and we want to raise them to be responsible adults. We also want to survive the rearing of our kids!

Welcome to the StandUp world!