Dear Queenie,
I’m 27 years old, have finished university with a Master’s degree, and I have a good job, but I am still living with my parents.
They still treat me like a child, they don’t want me to stay out late, they listen in on my phone calls and open my mail and insist on me showing them my financial information – my salary slips and my bank statements.
I could afford to move into a place of my own, but my parents forbid me to do so because they say it will cause shame and embarrassment for the family. They say I have to stay with them until I get married, but with the way my parents treat me, how can I ever meet someone and get to know them and fall in love with them so much that I want to marry them?
Queenie, how can I keep my parents happy and still live like a grown-up person?—Adult child
Dear Adult child,
It seems you will have to choose which is more important to you – keeping your parents happy or living like a grown-up person.
As usual, I recommend professional counselling, for yourself and, if you can persuade them to go, for your parents as well. If they are very religious, perhaps their pastor can intervene on your behalf.
