Best Books on Parenting Adult Children

Are you looking for a book on parenting adult children? I think many people are, but the problem is that so few have been written. I have read many books on empty nesting, but only 3 solely dedicated to Parenting Adult Children. While I am sorry I can’t give you a long list of the best books on parenting adult children, I will share with you what I have found.

For more information about parenting adult children:

Parenting Adult Children

10 Best Books about Empty Nesting: Many of these books have sections about adult children

5 Ways to Find Purpose as an Empty Nester

Best Books On Parenting Adult Children

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“Empty Nest, Full Life” by Jill Savage

This book is about empty nesting, but the entire first section deals with our adult children.

This book is the deepest, most vulnerable, and raw of all of the books I read. The first half of the book concerns relationships with adult children. Jill has truly struggled and come out the other side including loving her homosexual son and his friends and dealing with mental illness in another son. Her insight into what drives us as parents to try to control our adult children and beat ourselves up if they do not “turn out” like we would have wanted is unmatched in any of the other books I read.

A quote:

“… I’d made my children’s behavior an idol. I was using them to define myself. In order to have a healthy relationship with my kids, I had to let go of my idols.”

“Praying the Scriptures for your Adult Children” by Jodie Berndt

Best Quote in the Book: 

“God doesn’t want us to trust in an outcome, he wants us to trust in him.” This quote comes from the Epilogue of the book, but it is a great summary for the book.

“Praying the Scriptures for Your Adult Children”  is as much about praying over ourselves as it is praying for our children. One of the biggest struggles we moms face as our children grow up is letting them go and giving them and their decisions to the Lord.

“How to Really Love Your Adult Child” by Gary Chapman  and Ross Campbell, MD

At first I was not too sure about this book. It starts with a long dialogue about our culture and its affects on our kids. While culture is always a factor in all of our lives, I don’t find it helpful to wring our hands over it and give up. As I moved into the chapters the advice became much more practical and helpful.

Ross Campbell is a psychiatrist specializing in children and family issues. Gary Chapman is a minister and counselor. I appreciate the expertise of a physician especially when dealing with depression, ADHD, and other issues in our children.

Unfortunately that’s all there is folks in my list of Best Books on Parenting Adult Children. I reviewed one more book. It was written in 2008 and seemed out of date. The author was talking about being pregnant in 1965! Her child is older than I am, so I did not include it. 

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