Develop and Maintain Respectful Interdependence - Too Close for Comfort Excerpt

An Excerpt from Too Close for Comfort? Questioning the Intimacy of Today's New Mother-Daughter Relationship

Develop and Maintain Respectful Interdependence

By Linda Perlman Gordon and Susan Morris Shaffer
Original Content | September 16, 2009

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Show appreciation and affection.
Develop a balance between letting your daughter go and being a nurturing parent of an adult daughter.
Build trust with your daughter, and she will be more receptive to your involvement in her life.
Respect her autonomy; this is a critical component in building trust and mutual respect.
If your adult daughter moves back home, model the kind of mutual respect adults should have for each other. Living with an adult daughter can present opportunities and challenges in maintaining a close relationship. Basic courtesies should be expected and should go both ways. You are not running a hotel; it is your home. You should feel comfortable expressing your needs and expectations.

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Excerpted from Too Close for Comfort? Questioning the Intimacy of Today's New Mother-Daughter Relationship by Linda Perlman Gordon and Susan Morris Shaffer © 2009 by Linda Perlman Gordon and Susan Morris Shaffer. Excerpted by permission of The Berkley Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.