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Why you might need to distance yourself from an adult child #parenting #familyadvice

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SoulWords—Rabbi Shais Taub avatar
SoulWords—Rabbi Shais Taub

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Is it ever okay to cut off your adult child? The answer is yes, but I want to make something very clear. It's never justified as a punishment, meaning as a response to behavior where you're saying, "Because you did this, my response to you is that you are no longer my child." A parent's job is to continue to guide children even when they are making poor choices, and especially when they're making poor choices. So, it should never be punitive, or it should be an attempt to control the child's behavior. When is it unfortunately justified? When it's an issue of the parent's own safety, which may even mean not just physical safety, but emotional safety, meaning this child, for whatever reason, at present is not capable of functioning in a way where there is a semblance of peace and normalcy in the home. And yes, that does happen, and it's heartbreaking, and parents who have had to make that decision are, of course, heartbroken.