Comments on: Selling the Family Home

By: Walt

Walt — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 18:19:24 +0000

I think that adult children should not have anything to say about selling your home. As a boomer, we lived with our aging parents and nursed them through to their end. I’m sure that we are not alone in this experience. Can we expect our children to do the same? In this reality, our children are more successful as adults and relegate us to adult care homes. Our decisions to live a better life in the time we have left should not hinge on what the kids think. Let go have a great time.

By: Yaffa

Yaffa — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 15:25:24 +0000

Viv, I agrre with your statement on letting the kids know there is trouble ahead. I thought I was doing the right thing by making everything good for my children, and smoothing over all the problems. We never fought in front of them. In fact, if I really needed to voice my anger and frustration we would go to the wetlands, where I could actually scream at him!
When we finally did get a divorce, 4 out of 5 children were in total shock! It took a very long time to heal. “If we had just had an inkling…” was their claim.

By: Vivien Orbach-Smith

Vivien Orbach-Smith — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 08:10:38 +0000

Almost everyone – regardless of age – feels a sense of loss when their parents sell/dismantle the old nest. My students have also expressed strong feelings about this, especially when the move was part of a divorce the kids didn’t see coming. No disrespect meant to the well-intentioned parents who valiantly keep conflict and unhappiness under wraps for years, waiting for “the youngest to go to college” before dropping the bombshell. But then the kids, in the midst of negotiating life on their own for the first time, often don’t know what hit them; they no longer trust their own ability to judge the past, present or future – and can’t even take refuge in their old rooms. Not passing judgment – just think it’s best to bring the kids into the loop, when possible, so that they aren’t blindsided.

By: Dorothy

Dorothy — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 21:28:06 +0000

This is just the tip of the iceberg of letting the home go. As boomers we want the freeedom of no mowing,plowing or pool up keep.At the same time , we enjoy when the kids do come home,even with lots of friends in tow. Each of us has to decide how much time and money we are willing to putting into keeping the “family home” . When the balance goes into the negative it is time to move on…..just do it before it is too late and your kids have to sell your home!!!!