Some parents give their adult children the “five star hotel” treatment, however, never requiring them to do work around the house or even clean or iron their own clothing. That is very bad, because the child is being given no preparation for marriage or independent single life. Except under extraordinary circumstances, that is parent failure. It can paralyze the willingness of the adult child to become self-supporting, let alone willing to support a spouse and family or to contribute as a self-sacrificing single Christian or a member of a religious community.
Pope Francis once told a group of bishops: “In Buenos Aires many of the women were complaining, saying, ‘I have a son who’s 30, 34, and he won’t get married. I don’t know what to do!’ I would tell them, ‘Well, quit ironing his shirts!’…We need to give to the young people enthusiasm, so they will take this worthwhile risk. Here too, we bishops need parrhesia!"