I think it is a historical issue as well as regional. It is not as if the West was always characterized by these family trends. My English prof was telling us how it was normal for the oldest daughter in Ireland not to marry and to live with her parents and to care for them until they died during the 19th century. On second thought, may be this is a bad example. Back in those days, they may very well have thought of women as children.
Regardless of the regional or historical trends, I think it is important to recognize individual circumstances. I lived on my own for three years and it was really no big deal. I moved back in with my brother, and later, with my mother as I could no longer afford rent, but it is not as if I stopped growing magically simply because I live with my mom. We share expenses and responsibilities so it is not adequate to describe the relationship as leeching.
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Originally Posted by ALG Now, if this had been an Asian movie, the adult children would not be just coming to visit at Christmas time. They would be telling Dad, "Please Dad, come live with me, you're so lonely here, you are welcome to come stay with me." |
I would do the same thing; I plan on doing the same thing, actually. My mother was very depressed living in Ontario alone so she eventually followed my brother and I to Alberta. Even when I do get a half decent, salaried job, I will not leave her or tell her to leave my house. I hear that it is very easy to get a reference librarian job in the United States, but unless I can bring my mother, that is out of the question. I will take the hard path and find a job in my city if I need to. Some Westerners will go over hells acre to accommodate their parents.
Interestingly, it is my mother who has the Western perspective on the matter. She keeps hinting that I ought to leave her as living together must be a burden upon my self. But yah, like I said before, I do not feel like that I have magically stopped growing emotionally, financially, spiritually just because I live with my mom.
