Entitled adult kids don’t happen by accident. They happen because we loved hard and protected harder, and somewhere along the way, protecting turned into rescuing.
That’s where Cenita Johnson-Jackson and I started our conversation on her Aging With Purpose podcast: how does entitlement actually take root, and what does it take to break it once it’s there?
We got into family meetings, admitting our own missteps as parents, and asking our kids to co-create a plan with us instead of handing one down.
The catch is that none of it works unless you lead with kindness before you lead with firmness. People stop listening the moment they feel attacked, even by someone who loves them.
We also talked about the part nobody likes to hear: things usually get harder before they get better, and the hardest job a parent has is stepping back once the agreement is made and letting the consequences actually occur.
Watch our full conversation below.
