You are not parenting your parents, and pretending you are is making everyone miserable.
By Neil D'Monte, Palmelle Editorial Team · Reviewed by Neil D'Monte · 7 min read · 2026-06-02
You are fifty-four years old, standing in the aisle of a grocery store, arguing with an eighty-two-year-old man about whether he needs to buy low-sodium soup. He is your father, the man who once taught you how to wire a three-way switch, and he is currently looking at you with a mix of defiance and deep, quiet humiliation. You are exhausted, having spent your lunch break sorting through his mail to find the gas bill he forgot to pay.
