Daughter wants to give up?

SmithieandProud
Wed, 23 Jun 2010 16:15:16 +0000

For a daughter described as ambitious and not one to give up, she certainly seems to be turning away from things quickly for light reasons (“sounds boring”, “afraid she’ll fail”, “afraid she won’t like it”). She must have been very shaken by the experience of her carefully planned biology future not working out the way she expected. I think what she needs most of all right now is just assurances that she’s still a smart person who can accomplish whatever she sets her mind to, and that you her parent will love and support her no matter what she wants to do. She’s got to get her self confidence up so she can start planning a new future again.

Would you be willing to let her take a year off and live at home (while working of course) or maybe volunteering either at home or abroad (maybe she should think about becoming a WWWOFer, World Wide Worker on Organic Farms, people who travel around the world (often in Europe) and volunteer on Organic Farms in exchange for room and board while they’re in the area)? It might be good for her to get a little space and take a brief leave to organize her thoughts and re-build so she can go back with some perspective.