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and loving. Children will indeed communicate regularly with parents, and remain involved with and invested in these relationships, if they've been taught to value family and connection and communication.

They must, of course, learn to differentiate between independence and connection and not give in either temptation or pressure to blur that line of individualism. If the parent-child relationship is strong and healthy, this will usually not occur.

Many "children" today are known as the "sandwich generation": they are not only caring for and being responsible for their own offspring, but also attempting to be caretakers for their own parents. These individuals must tread a fine line between maintaining relationships and exhibiting responsibility to their children, their parents, and themselves; they must also be aware of the pitfalls of reverting to dependence, while at the same time be willing to take on the responsibility of multiple generations.

Children do have a duty to become caretakers when parents are unable to manage their own affairs; especially children who have reaped the benefits of good parenting and continue to maintain loving relationships. Parents are the beginning of life for all children; some manage to promote the family, while others appear to do their best to destroy that family unit.

As adults, children should be able to show some semblance of responsibility simply in gratitude for the very gift of life. The quality and quantity of their actions, care, concern, and loving, however, will and probably should be tempered with the type of relationship that was present throughout childhood.

Parents do have the majority of responsibility in the parent-child relationship; as the adults, they have the authority and the accountability to raise their children. When the children themselves reach adulthood, the tables are certainly turned.

Learn more about this author, Robin Tidwell.
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