Walking on Eggshells | About the Book

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Synopsis
If your grown daughter still winces at your tone of voice — even though she is thirty years old, or if you can’t get your adult son to return your phone calls, if you love your parents but find it impossible to visit them for more than three days without blowing up, or if you can only stand a couple of minutes on the phone with them, you may need this book. In Walking on Eggshells Jane Isay tells her own heartbreaking and ultimately heartwarming story of becoming closer to her two adult sons as well as the deeply moving stories of parents and grown children finding ways to stay close while maintain the necessary boundaries.

Using extensive interviews with people from ages twenty-five to seventy, Isay shows that we are far from alone in our struggles to make this relationship work. From marriage to remarriage to stepparents and grandparents to money and holidays, virtually every type of family issue is addressed in anecdotes that are both compelling and reassuring. And her research reveals a number of important things that should come as a relief and as a challenge to the generations: a relief because there is so much love, a challenge because there is much to be done:

Adult children, no matter how they behave, really love and appreciate their parents.
Parents, even those that have trouble breaking bad habits, love their children and want be a loving part of their lives.
Tiny acts of love and kindness are the best way to bridge the gap between the generations — phone calls with out motives, genuine apologies, coupled with changes in behavior, go a long way toward healing decades-long breaches.
Giving grown children advice is a recipe for conflict and trouble — just don’t do it.

Jane Isay is a warm, loving, intelligent voice guiding us though the money moments, holiday blow-ups, in-law fights that put distance between us. In her stories we find the wisdom and direction we need to strengthen the bonds between the generations. Walking on Eggshells is a gift to parents and adult children and will be read and treasured for years to come.

Synopsis Praise Chapter by Chapter Reading Group Guide	Synopsis If your grown daughter still winces at your tone of voice — even though she is thirty years old, or if you can’t get your adult son to return your phone calls, if you love your parents but find it impossible to visit them for more than three days without blowing up, or if you can only stand a couple of minutes on the phone with them, you may need this book. In Walking on Eggshells Jane Isay tells her own heartbreaking and ultimately heartwarming story of becoming closer to her two adult sons as well as the deeply moving stories of parents and grown children finding ways to stay close while maintain the necessary boundaries. Using extensive interviews with people from ages twenty-five to seventy, Isay shows that we are far from alone in our struggles to make this relationship work. From marriage to remarriage to stepparents and grandparents to money and holidays, virtually every type of family issue is addressed in anecdotes that are both compelling and reassuring. And her research reveals a number of important things that should come as a relief and as a challenge to the generations: a relief because there is so much love, a challenge because there is much to be done: Adult children, no matter how they behave, really love and appreciate their parents. Parents, even those that have trouble breaking bad habits, love their children and want be a loving part of their lives. Tiny acts of love and kindness are the best way to bridge the gap between the generations — phone calls with out motives, genuine apologies, coupled with changes in behavior, go a long way toward healing decades-long breaches. Giving grown children advice is a recipe for conflict and trouble — just don’t do it. Jane Isay is a warm, loving, intelligent voice guiding us though the money moments, holiday blow-ups, in-law fights that put distance between us. In her stories we find the wisdom and direction we need to strengthen the bonds between the generations. Walking on Eggshells is a gift to parents and adult children and will be read and treasured for years to come.
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