How to Raise an Adult by Julie Lythcott-Haims

Title: How to Raise an Adult

Author: Julie Lythcott-Haims

Pages: 368

Finished: 4/17/17

First Sentence: This is a book about parents who are overinvolved in the lives of their kids.

Summary: Society constantly rags on Millennials. Millennials are entitled. Millennials have no work ethic. Millennials have no life skills. Millennials want recognition for trying hard even if they don't succeed. Julie Lythcott- Haims, a dean of freshmen students at Stanford talks about how this trend happened, why it hurts our kids, and how we can stop it. It's a call to action for a different and probably better way of parenting that seems all but lost in our society today.

Thoughts: First of all, I am a Millennial. I've ALWAYS hated being told all the problems with my generation as though they're all my fault. I never gave myself a trophy for trying. I never falsely built up my self esteem. I didn't put expectations of straight As in every subject so I could get into an amazing school on myself (at least until I was older.) But somehow I'm at fault. 

I'm also a mom of a toddler.

This book was just what I needed at this moment in time. I've told my husband time and again that I want my child to learn how to power through frustration. That I want her to learn from failure rather than fearing failure. That I want her learning life skills, and how to entertain herself. I want her to succeed in life. It's hard to parent that way when society tells you to do it differently. This book really helped confirm to me that I'm doing things right. 

As for how I'm doing as a Millennial, I can say that I was never as bad as many of the examples in this book, though I did have to learn to recognize things I struggled with and how to work through them. 

Ultimately, I think this book should be required reading for anyone who is or wants to be a parent, anyone who works with or wants to work with kids, and perhaps anyone who is a Millennial or is dealing with Millennials in the workforce.