I think it's more of an African mentality for parents to saddle their children with their responsibilities when they get older, especially parents that feel entitled to the fact that they had spent all their lives raising their children without an investment anywhere elsewhere, according to them, their children is considered their investment, well this isn't a bad thing totally, because as a child just like it became natural for our parents to care for us after birthing us, it is only natural for us to also have the instinct to care for them when they get older and can't do stressful work as the did when they were much younger.

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It only becomes unfair when parents don't consider the financial strength of their children and never had any investment in preparation for their retirement, they rather hold on to the belief that their children are their full retirement package, and therefore they put all their responsibilities on them, it becomes unfair because they are not sure of what the future holds, and how long it will take such child to become financial capable to render 100 percent financial care and general support to them.

I once witnessed a disagreement between a mother and her daughter, apparently, the mother who seemed to be in her early 50s had stopped working and fully depended on her children, she had asked her eldest daughter for a particular amount of money for her personal use, and same time, according to the daughter, she had borrowed money from a friend to finance her business by buying expensive tools to help ease her and increase production so she could get more income, at that period, she couldn't afford to give her mother the full amount she had requested for and only offered what she had, not that she doesn't support before, but her mother got upset that her daughter could deny her full request but had money to buy an expensive tool for her business.

You can imagine the entitlement feeling some parent have, and waste no time in mounting pressure on their children the moment they start earning. I don't think it is fair on the child because no matter how hard-hearted a child is, he or she won't forget to be of assistance to their aged parent, both financially and in other areas of care especially those that suffered to raise them, even those that did nothing in contributing to raising their children still get pitied for at older age. Rather than put pressure on your child, it is wiser for parents to have a retirement plan for themselves as they age, and let their children's support be a plus, then would they enjoy their old age whether the child supports them or not, God forbid bad occurrence, in case the child dies before the parent, which we have seen happen before, how then would they survive without the child's existence.

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Notwithstanding, every parent deserves to be cared for by their children, so we must as children reciprocate the same love and care our parents did to us, try the best way we can, not by involving ourselves in dubious means just to meet up expectations and pressure, let your heart gives you peace, and do you know that caring for your parents also comes with its own blessing for those that believe? Jacob in the bible was blessed by his father after feeding him with a delicious meal, you don't want to miss this blessing, so do your part as a child.

Being a parent myself, I know how it isn't easy caring for a child right from to an adult, they are still little and I know the stress I've gone through already, it would give me joy for my children to be of support to me at an elderly age, but what would give me more joy is seeing them do well and also having my investment paying me and even taking care of my children and unborn generation at an older age, which is not impossible, the reason why I'm giving all my best now when I'm young, to not only raise them well, but also invest in a brighter future.

All images used are mine

Thank you for reading.