All Grown Up

When children grow up and become adults we often assume, as parents, that our job is done. In fact it's just the beginning of a whole new stage in our lifelong connection. Relationships with adult children are an aspect of parenting that is rarely discussed, yet they require thoughtfulness and empathy, and can bring many new challenges. - How can you avoid conflict when your adult child returns to live with you? - What if you don't get on with their partner? - How should you suppoer your child through a divorce, or mental health challenges later in life? - Do you have mixed feelings about looking after your grandchildren? - What if you adult children don't get along? All Grown Up draws on the personal experiences of parents, as well as advice from leading experts in the filed, to offer support and guidance on working through these common dilemmas to develop and maintain a close bond with your adult child. Discover how to create family harmony and a strong, enduring connection. Praise for Celia Dodd's Not Fade Away 'Optimistic and clever, this handbook for how to flourish in your sixties - and beyond - may be the wisest book on reaching a pensionable age' - The i newspaper 'As a child of the 60's, ambitious and career driven, I needed to read this book. I now no longer fear life's next chapter but instead I'm shouting "Bring it on!"' - Jo Good, BBC Radio London 'Retirement is not about "giving up". This book shows us how to discover the positives and relish every moment of this major life transition'. - Aggie MacKenzie, broadcaster and journalist.

Celia Dodd is an author and journalist with over 30 years' experience of contributing features on family, relationships, health and education to national newspapers and magazines, including The Times, the Independent, the Daily Mail and Radio Times. This is Dodd's fourth book; previous books include The Empty Nest: how to survive and stay close to your adult child (Piatkus) and Not Fade Away: How to thrive in retirement (Bloomsbury). www.celiadodd.co.uk

Introduction 1. Changing roles, new identities 2. The evolving relationship 3. Meeting and communicating 4. Living with adult children 5. Crises (adult children's) 6. Crises (in parents' lives, eg divorce) 7. Conflict and disagreement 8. Siblings and new family dynamics. Breaking childhood patterns. 9. Partners, daughters- and sons-in law. Parents with new partners. 10. When children become parents. The impact on parent and adult child. Grandchildren. 11. Long-distance relationships: when kids - or parents - live far apart. 12. Children who need extra support: special needs, mental or physical health conditions Conclusion: The shifting balance: when parents need their children's support