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Greetings Fellow Parents of 20-somethings

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We all do the best we can to get our kids ready to leave the nest

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According to a recent Pew Research study, 86% of parents of young adults felt they had done a great deal or at least a fair amount to prepare their children to be independent adults.

However, that same study found that only 66% of young adults felt their parents had prepared them to be independent adults.

So maybe the kids aren’t as prepared as we thought.

Once kids graduate, we tend to turn them loose in the world and figure that they’ve got this. If they don’t, there are surprisingly few trustworthy sources of wisdom they can turn to for guidance.

But now there’s a way to help fill in the gaps.

Things Your Mom Should Have Told You is a weekly online newsletter designed to help 20-somethings navigate young adulthood

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It delivers an instruction manual for life a week at a time

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Every edition of Things Your Mom Should Have Told You features a Wisdom Snapshot. Topics range from Love and Relationships to Career to The Big Picture to Little Life Lessons to How to Get Your Shit Together.

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Browse the Wisdom Snapshots already in the archive and you’ll see:

Sensible advice to consider when confronted with dilemmas

  • What do you do when you discover a coworker makes more than you?

  • How do you improve your chances of ending your dating career for good?

  • Should you hold out for a job that’s just right or take a less-than-perfect one?

  • What do you do when your friends’ weddings are costing you a lot of money?
     

Guidance for handling situations that tend to crop up in your 20s

  • How do you get comfortable with a life that’s going to be under construction for a while?

  • What do you do when you feel like you don’t have a squad anymore?​

  • What do you say to someone who has just experienced a tragedy or loss?

  • How do you handle it when the plus-ones add up to a whole new equation for your squad?

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Food for thought about the Big Picture

  • Is hustle culture the secret to success or the gateway to a toxic mindset?

  • Why is homeownership worth it, and how do you prepare to buy a home?

  • How do you maintain cordial relationships with relatives of opposing viewpoints, and why is it worth it to do so?

  • How do you know when your significant other is The One?

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The 411 on things they need to know to fend for themselves

  • What should you do to build a solid financial foundation for your big adult life?

  • How do you file a tax return and what’s up with all the mysterious deductions on your paystub?

  • How do you build a credit history and handle credit cards responsibly?

  • What happens when you turn 26 and have to get your own health insurance?


Each TYMSHTY newsletter also includes Snippets from the Book of the Month. The kids aren’t likely to discover the titles in the Books of Wisdom collection I’m curating on TikTok, but they’re the kind of books that address topics on the minds of people trying to get their lives together. Since wordy book reviews risk being branded TL;DR*, the Snippets resemble Instagram stories, so readers can quickly get a sense of whether a book suits them.

Clippings of News You Can Maybe Use–links to articles and websites that can help 20-somethings survive and thrive–also appear in every newsletter. Chances are the average 20-something isn’t reading the same things as their parents. But who better than a wise old mom to be on the lookout for tidbits of wisdom or sources of advice that might benefit them?

*too long; didn’t read

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You can’t prevent the struggles your child will face as a young adult, but you can help ensure they’re prepared

Things Your Mom Should Have Told You helps 20-somethings learn the ropes of adulthood and equips them to build the kind of meaningful life they’ve always wanted. And with the information delivered a week at a time, there’s less chance of overwhelming your favorite 20-something.

It’s easy to subscribe to Things Your Mom Should Have Told You

This link takes you to a page where you can subscribe. I invite you to sign up and check the content out for yourself. A fresh newsletter will land in your inbox every Tuesday.

Of course, I also encourage you to tell your favorite 20-somethings about Things Your Mom Should Have Told You. I know it’s tempting just to type in their email addresses to subscribe them, but most people don’t like to find newsletters in their inboxes that they didn’t sign up for. (Plus, if they don’t know to be on the lookout, TYMSHTY may land in their junk email bin, and they might never see it.)

Every edition of the newsletter includes a Share button–that's the best way to tip others off about all these things their mom should have told them.

By the way, if there’s anything you wish your mom had told you before you entered the wonderful world of adulthood, or if there’s anything you think 20-somethings might appreciate knowing, drop me a line (joanne_mchugh@msn.com).

Let’s help this generation be better prepared about what to expect while adulting!​​

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