Parents

Parents tend not to say what they need, and we children are left to try to figure it out, which leads to problems when we make mistakes.

These issues between parents and children, the mixed messages on both sides -- children who say they want to help but who already have too many demands on their time and energy, parents who say they don't need anything but clearly do -- are an old story. It's not news either that adult children have always worried about their parents, that they've always cared for them in their old age, and that the role reversal is inevitably a wrenching emotional experience for all concerned.