Ungrateful Kids Finally Get To Respect Their Parents - At The Age Of 28

Ungrateful Kids Finally Get To Respect Their Parents - At The Age Of 28
Adult daughter and mother standing back to back
Getty Images/Brand X
Adult daughter and mother standing back to back

This is a story I will bookmark and re-read over the next few years as my kids continue to yell at me: "I hate you. I wish I was never born." And it is something you should do, too, especially during times of great duress when your children's test your patience to its snapping point.

For it reveals that one day, a few years from now, your ungrateful spawn will grow to truly appreciate everything you've done and are doing for them.

Unfortunately, you'll have to wait until they're 28 years old before they embrace you with gratitude. For that is the age that children come to respect us parents, according to research.

The various stages of the parent-child relationship have been examined in a survey by Paramount Pictures for the release of their film Nebraska.

Results showed that while teenagers start to see their parents as vulnerable when they turn 14, most people don't get to know their parents on their own terms until they are 28.

The survey of 2,000 UK families revealed that the main reason people are thankful for their parents is by looking at how other people were brought up in comparison.

And in hindsight, people said they should have shown their parents more respect as they were growing up.

Only one in four people said they fully appreciated their parents when they were teenagers, while three quarters of adults admitted to not giving their parents enough credit during their turbulent years. How people appreciate their parents depends on their gender, according to the survey.

As adults, twice as many women than men will happily turn to parents for help with concerns about money or domestic problems.

In contrast, men are more reluctant to ask their mum and dad for advice. A fifth more women than men said they learn the importance of their family when they went on to have children of their own or saw how other people were brought up.

Whereas men said it was getting their first job or leaving home for the first time that changed how they feel about their parents.

Nearly a quarter more women than men cited their teenage years as being particularly trying, while a fifth more men than women recall their teens as being the complete opposite.

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