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Help Your Twenty-Something Get a Life ... And Get It Now: A Guide for Parents    by Ross Campbell & Rob Suggs Amazon.com order for
Help Your Twenty-Something Get a Life ... And Get It Now
by Ross Campbell
Order:  USA  Can
Thomas Nelson, 2007 (2007)
Paperback
* * *   Reviewed by Melissa Parcel

Are you the parent of a twenty-something? Have you heard the words 'I'm eighteen, I'm an adult now' uttered in your presence? Twenty-somethings come with their own set of rules, agendas, and incredible challenges. As a parent of a twenty-one year old daughter, this book caught my eye as a must read in order to navigate these tumultuous years.

Young adults in their twenties have a completely different mindset than anyone else, especially their parents. They have grown up in a wealthy, indulgent society. School systems have cared more about nurturing their fragile self esteem than they have about providing them with a practical education. Everything in the twenty-something's life revolves around media - computers, cell phones, text messaging, videos, pictures - you name it, these young adults are fluent in media. And morality is incredibly different for these young people as well. Their perception of right and wrong is not based on the same things as their parents' is.

Help Your Twenty-Something Get a Life ... And Get It Now focuses on the basics we can look for in order to identify whether or not our child is actually an adult. How do we determine maturity, especially emotional maturity? The book also looks at the cornerstones of integrity and how to formulate appropriate expectations for a twenty-something.

Multiple issues are analyzed and discussed - from financial issues to living situations to money, dating, and depression. This is an invaluable resource for parents to turn to again and again for advice and even just to help realize they are not alone in their struggles. It would also be an ideal book for group discussion amongst parents going through similar situations. Study and discussion questions are included.

My only criticism of this book is that I would have liked a little more focus on college years. There is an entire chapter devoted to what happens when your child wants to move back home. This is fantastic information, but what about those of us who have a child home for the summer? I was looking for practical information about rule setting and guidelines for that particular situation. However, the basics chapter does give this type of help in a broader sense, and we are able to use it in our home.

Help Your Twenty-Something Get a Life ... And Get It Now is a book for every parent with an adult child in that age range. It will help to understand their mindset and why they make the types of decisions they do, as well as give serious guidance to maintaining your own sanity in the midst of tumultuous times.

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