Walking on Eggshells: Navigating the Delicate Relationship Between Adult Children and Parents

by Jane Isay

Book Overview

The perfect gift for both parents and their adult children--"a wonderfully wise and constructive intergenerational guide" that will keep you connected to the people you love most. "Read it and learn."--New York Times bestselling author Judith Viorst

We raise our children to be independent and lead fulfilling lives, but when they finally do, staying close becomes more complicated than ever. And for every bewildered mother who...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0767920856
• ISBN13: 9780767920858
• Release Date: February 2008
• Publisher: Vintage
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.46 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.3" x 7.9"

Customer Reviews

Great anecdotes, not much meat

This book has great stories to help people see how others have been in a situation that we could find ourselves in. This helps to realize we are not alone and helps us to see how people overcame the situations. However, I didn't find the book really had a lot of instruction as to how to navigate the relationship between my adult children and myself. I found that for the most part, I had already discovered what was talked about. This book may be good for someone who is just starting this journey and would like to see how others have navigated the muddy waters.

Personality Disorder: dealing with difficult family members

This is an excellent quick read for people with difficult family members who tantrum, manipulate, bully, flip from personable to attacks, undermine your esteem, use you to elevate their own esteem, feel persecuted while persecuting. It's a 'must read' to salvage your sanity and your family and to understand how people living tortured lives torture others.

Invaluable!

What a wonderful and useful book! Jane Isay has done a brilliant (and highly readable)) job of examining the nature of our relationships with our adult children and gives truly invaluable advice about how to navigate these treacherous waters. I recommend it to all parents and their adult children alike!

Perfect Gift

I purchased this book as a mother's day gift for my mom. We do not have the best relationship, and I wanted to find a gift that would help our bond to grow stronger. At first she was hurt by the gesture, but she ended up reading the book in 2 days and called me with only rave reviews. She said it felt as though the author were speaking directly to her and understood everything that went on between her and her kids. She has already recommended it to all of her friends with children and plans to read it again and again. It has opened up lines of communication between us, and I plan to read it soon so that we can discuss how we feel about our own situation. I am extremely satisfied with my purchase and feel that it helped spark the mending of my relationship with my mother. Hopefully we can continue to work on our issues thanks to this book.

Navigating Through Troubled Waters

Jane Isay's book takes a long look at how relationships change as our children grow up. What worked (or almost worked) when they were teenagers or recent college grads does not succeed when they reach their 30's and 40's. Her well-written and well-researched book gives many case histories, describing problems and discussing solutions. Much depends on communicating, both parents and children, and on not giving advice. Anyone who has children this age, or will have children this age, or is a child him or her self, will find this book invaluable reading.

Helpful, interesting, worthwhile

This is a fascinating book that will be useful and compelling for almost any adult from their 20s on up, in dealing with their parents and/or their own kids. It shows how these relationships change over time, and how to adjust them once the kids reach adulthood. There is a lot to think about here, and the examples of how families have handled the changes in their lives are very helpful.