Anonymous
Post 01/21/2026 12:48     Subject: Have your Adult Children moved away by choice to get away from you?
Anonymous wrote:Oh gosh, my mom recently moved ~7h drive away. Is she trying to get away from me??? I'll have to let her know I'm very disappointed XD


Wait until she has a medical emergency, 7 hrs is going to seem like more when you are driving back and forth.
Anonymous
Post 01/19/2026 13:17     Subject: Have your Adult Children moved away by choice to get away from you?
Oh gosh, my mom recently moved ~7h drive away. Is she trying to get away from me??? I'll have to let her know I'm very disappointed XD
Anonymous
Post 01/19/2026 11:01     Subject: Have your Adult Children moved away by choice to get away from you?
Anonymous wrote:I moved away form my Mom. After 20 years she moved down the street from me. It's been fine. I keep her busy with the kids so she doesn't hyperfixate on me too much.


how old is mom?
Anonymous
Post 01/19/2026 01:20     Subject: Have your Adult Children moved away by choice to get away from you?
I moved away form my Mom. After 20 years she moved down the street from me. It's been fine. I keep her busy with the kids so she doesn't hyperfixate on me too much.
Anonymous
Post 01/19/2026 00:53     Subject: Have your Adult Children moved away by choice to get away from you?
Anonymous wrote:no, my father was a really terrible person and me and my siblings all moved FAR away from where we grew up and limited contact once we moved away. Honestly, he was so self centered and my mom was so enmeshed with him that i honestly don't think they missed any of us when we moved away.

I am sad that i don't see my own kids more. One lives relatively close (same state) while the others live farther away. Over Christmas, we had a heart to heart where my kids were like 'We love you but we also want to use our leave to visit our friends and attend weddings and see the world. Just like you did when you were our age." And they had a point.


Take them on a trip with you if you can, it’s more fun than coming to one’s hometown (for many)
Anonymous
Post 01/19/2026 00:51     Subject: Have your Adult Children moved away by choice to get away from you?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Moving closer geographically may be easier for everyone in your elder years. Less distance makes eldercare easier.


I can’t imagine my kid being open to ensuring that I have access to compassionate care in old age.

Which is sad.


It doesn’t work like that, not quite. Either you move closer to them or they move you to where they want you to be.
Kids don’t usually move to be closer to their parent in old age
Anonymous
Post 01/19/2026 00:48     Subject: Re:Have your Adult Children moved away by choice to get away from you?
Anonymous wrote:I live in fear that my widowed mom will move closer to me. I definitely don't think this is a good strategy to improve an already strained relationship. If you can't get along with your kids from a distance, it's not going to get better if you move to the same town. I guess the only positive I see is that visits could be shorter (like meeting for a meal) as opposed to stressful multi-day hosting events that go on way too long for anyone's good).

Why do you think your kid moved to get away from you?


Unfortunately there comes a day when you have to be pretty hands on with your pretty old (by then) parent so it’s easier to be close
Anonymous
Post 01/18/2026 22:50     Subject: Re:Have your Adult Children moved away by choice to get away from you?
Anonymous wrote:I think I my kids moved away to get away from me, I would not move close to them. Why would you follow them? Seems like the relationship is already strained, why uproot your life for that. I don't think it would make the relationship better. And you will probably end up resentful that you moved to be closer to them and still not have a great relationship. Look long and hard at who you are and try to address the reason why it is strained.


Probably you'll see data showing mixed results so weigh your options and then decide. You might regret moving there or you might regret not giving it a try. Being a caring parent to adult kids isn't easy. My advice would be to only do it if you can financially survive the hit of the move, without becoming destitute in your elder years.
Anonymous
Post 01/18/2026 21:59     Subject: Have your Adult Children moved away by choice to get away from you?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Moving closer geographically may be easier for everyone in your elder years. Less distance makes eldercare easier.


A child who moves far away from a parent fo get away from them doesn’t want to be responsible for the elder care of the parent they don’t want to be near.


If they don't want the eldercare responsibility, they should not want the inheritance. It's a package deal.


If my parents wanted familial eldercare, they shouldn't have abused me as a child and into adulthood. They probably won't give me any inheritance as a final "f*** you." Up to them.


That's fair.
Anonymous
Post 01/18/2026 07:51     Subject: Have your Adult Children moved away by choice to get away from you?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Moving closer geographically may be easier for everyone in your elder years. Less distance makes eldercare easier.


A child who moves far away from a parent fo get away from them doesn’t want to be responsible for the elder care of the parent they don’t want to be near.


If they don't want the eldercare responsibility, they should not want the inheritance. It's a package deal.


I know kids who provided eldercare to terrible parents (at their own great personal cost) and got a pittance of the inheritance. I don't think anyone can expect a quid pro quo here, especially with eccentric/selfish parents. Those qualities only get worse with age.
Anonymous
Post 01/17/2026 10:33     Subject: Have your Adult Children moved away by choice to get away from you?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Moving closer geographically may be easier for everyone in your elder years. Less distance makes eldercare easier.


A child who moves far away from a parent fo get away from them doesn’t want to be responsible for the elder care of the parent they don’t want to be near.


If they don't want the eldercare responsibility, they should not want the inheritance. It's a package deal.


If my parents wanted familial eldercare, they shouldn't have abused me as a child and into adulthood. They probably won't give me any inheritance as a final "f*** you." Up to them.
Anonymous
Post 01/17/2026 10:21     Subject: Re:Have your Adult Children moved away by choice to get away from you?
I moved cross country as a young adult in large part to get distance from toxic family dynamics but would never have overtly acknowledged that as a major factor in the decision.

I would doubt that many people whose adult children are moving to escape them are self aware enough to recognize it as the reason.
Anonymous
Post 01/17/2026 10:10     Subject: Have your Adult Children moved away by choice to get away from you?
My kids moved away but mostly because it was cheaper to live outside our DC area or for my 2025 grad, he could not find work here but could elsewhere. We’ve talked about me moving closer to them so I don’t think they were moving away from us.
Anonymous
Post 01/17/2026 08:59     Subject: Have your Adult Children moved away by choice to get away from you?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Moving closer geographically may be easier for everyone in your elder years. Less distance makes eldercare easier.


A child who moves far away from a parent fo get away from them doesn’t want to be responsible for the elder care of the parent they don’t want to be near.


If they don't want the eldercare responsibility, they should not want the inheritance. It's a package deal.
Anonymous
Post 01/15/2026 22:25     Subject: Have your Adult Children moved away by choice to get away from you?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Moving closer geographically may be easier for everyone in your elder years. Less distance makes eldercare easier.


A child who moves far away from a parent fo get away from them doesn’t want to be responsible for the elder care of the parent they don’t want to be near.


Nobody wants to take on that chore, but you should do it anyway to teach your children how to care for you in your elder years.