Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I need some sort of automatic button that just posts this reply to every question in the “Adult Children” forum:
Is she asking for help?
Complaining and panicking are NOT asking for help. Unless she specifically asks for your input*, go with commiseration and support. “Oh, that is so tough. I’m so sorry you’re dealing with this. You’re smart and industrious, I know you’ll figure it out. Not having a job is so stressful particularly over the holidays.” Etc. etc.
*This looks like this: “Mom, I’m really struggling with my job search. So far I’ve X, Y, and Z. Is there more I should be doing at this stage? What do you think?
Hahaha PP.
This forum is for the parents, not the kids!!
DD did directly ask me to look for jobs for her to apply to. She is completely burned out on searching online. She is networking, but that's a slow process.
Anxious parents need empathy too! It's stressful not being able to reassure DD. Every conversation with her is a long litany of complaints. TBH I want her to stop complaining! And it hurts me to see her suffering. No matter how old your children are, you want to help them when they are in pain.
PP here. I get that it’s hard. I’m not saying this is easy advice. I’m a parent - yes, you don’t want to hear your kid complain and yes, you want to help them when they’re in pain or struggling.
But I stand by my advice. She has asked, as you say, for help looking for jobs to apply to. So - help with that. Look through monster.com or snagajob.com or wherever else and suggest some jobs she might want to apply to. There might be some applications of her skills that she’s not thinking of, or some out of the box ideas that wouldn’t occur to her. Start a new post on DCUM listing out some of her skills and experience and get suggestions for specific companies or fields or job types (you’ve already got some of that on this thread which you should totally pass along). That’s a place where older, more experienced members of the workforce can be helpful and, it’s what she asked for!
What she has not asked for is predictions on how long this will take, input on whether her expectations of a job search are reasonable, whether he former employer was reasonable or whether that is a common occurrence, or how not to panic. So DON’T offer unsolicited advice on these topics!
Don’t you remember being in your 20s? Everything is hard and awful and a huge challenge. But did you appreciate unsolicited advice from your mother? I know I didn’t! She’s asked for what she wants help with. So, help with that and if she wants help or advice on more stuff, she’ll ask. Bite your knuckles bloody if you have to, but keep your mouth shut except for things you are explicitly asked about, and trust her to get through this without you. That trust and confidence in her, a fellow adult, is the best gift you can give her.