Today I’m featuring an article by Debbie Pincus, MS LMHC that originally appeared on empoweringParents.com. If you’re worn out by parenting irresponsible kids—if you feel at a loss as to what to do about it—this article is for you.
Debbie’s article on parenting irresponsible kids is here.
Irresponsible kids take up massive amounts of parental energy.
I love this article because it explains in practical terms how to allow your irresponsible child to be emotionally separate from you.
This idea of “emotionally separate” might seem odd to you at first. You might think, “Wait a second—I want to be emotionally close to my kids! Not separate!” But give this article a chance.
You just might find yourself feeling closer to your kids than ever.
While saving your own energy for taking care of yourself.
You can help irresponsible kids become happy, responsible kids.
Read Debbie Pincus’s great article on parenting irresponsible kids here.
After you do, you might feel greatly inspired that your teen or college student should get a part-time job. Get help and support on this subject by listening to my podcast episode where I talk about how great part-time jobs can be for teens and college students.
Help us spread the word about helping irresponsible kids.
Copy this entire article and paste it right into your school, business, or nonprofit newsletter. Put a link to it in your Facebook group!
Who is Debbie Pincus?
For more than 25 years, Debbie has offered compassionate and effective therapy and coaching that helps individuals, couples, and parents to heal themselves and their relationships. Debbie is the creator of the Calm Parent AM & PM™ program (which is included in The Total Transformation® Online Package) and is also the author of numerous books for young people on interpersonal relations. You can follow her on Twitter @TheCalmParent.
Learn my favorite, most fun strategy for raising super responsible kids.
If your child is age 14 or older, read what I’ve written about “asking your son to pay for all his own personal expenses using money you provide.”
It’s on pages 117-120 of my book:
Important—> It’s a reference book, so nobody reads the whole thing cover to cover. Pick out what you need to read in it using the fast-paced, 10-minute video instructions here.
You can see hundreds of reviews of this book on Amazon by going to:
You can see why financial advising professionals love LAUNCH, here.
You can see the top 9 questions parents are asking me about LAUNCH, here.
Read just one chapter of LAUNCH every 1–3 months while your child’s in middle school and high school, and you’ll know every viable strategy for debt-free college at exactly the right time to implement it.
And if your child’s already well past middle school? That’s OK; you can run to catch up. But the process of getting your kids through college debt-free goes more smoothly the earlier you start it—especially if you’re not planning to save up any money to pay for college.
Let's you and I walk together toward the goal of debt-free college for your kids.
We can accomplish this no matter your current income level—even if your kids never get a single scholarship.
Your first step is getting regularly scheduled, free helpful articles from me—right in your email inbox. Quick, sign up here.
Do you have very specific questions for me about debt-free college and career for your kids?
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Who is Jeannie Burlowski?
Jeannie is a full-time academic strategist, podcast host, and sought-after speaker for students ages 12–26, their parents, and the professionals who serve them. Her writing, speaking, and podcasting help parents set their kids up to graduate college debt-free, ready to jump directly into careers they excel at and love. Her work has been featured in publications such as The Huffington Post, USA Today, Parents Magazine, and US News & World Report, and on CBS News.
Jeannie also helps students apply to law, medical, business, and grad school at her website GetIntoMedSchool.com. You can follow her on Bluesky @jburlowski.bsky.social.
No part of this article was written using AI.