Customer Reviews

Last Chance Children: Growing Up with Older Parents

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If this is how they turn out, maybe the interviewees can persuade me not to have a late baby. The majority of the subjects sounded incredibly shallow and immature. Fortunately,the author revealed that she used the "snowball" method to find her subjects, i.e she knew someone, and they knew some more friends, and then they got their friends,etc. So I am hoping the sample was skewed.

Some points raised as disadvantages of older parents were that they look different than other parentsand don't understand teenagers! What kid doesn't think that? Age of the parent has little to do with it. One legitimate concern raised by interviewees was that an older parent may need care or pass on sooner in the child's life -that was one of the few things in the book worth thinking about in my opinion. Another valid point, but one that applies to any parent, is that a child should be wanted, valued and given priority in your schedule.

It's really too bad there aren't more books (or research, for that matter) on this topic. I think the book sets out with a noble idea in telling the story from the point of view of the children of older parents, but falls short. Some of the stories were very touching, others, shallow. The book is a dry read, rather like examining a college thesis, but it's interesting to finally see the view from the children's -- not the sometimes overeager older parents' -- point of view. One of the more interesting aspects was in reading how the different subjects relate, not to the parents, but to other siblings who are in some cases much older than themselves. How their odd placement in the family can sometimes distance them from the world around them, making them feel like perpetual outsiders, even among those they love the most. However, the book also manages to get across that these same "issues" that the children, as adults, may have, could be the result of growing up in a number of circumstances and may not be the result of older parenting. This, however, is part of the problem. It presents its topic, but never seems to outline a definitive point of view. Although I do not regret having bought the book, being that it is one of very few on the subject, it was a very uninspiring read.