“Having a Child at 40 and Not Spoiling Them is Impossible”: A Mother Raised a Selfish Son and Now She Doesn’t Know How to Handle Him

Having a child at 40 and not spoiling them is impossible. Ask any parent who decided to have a child later in life, and they will surely confirm it. This is just how life goes, but my husband and I couldn’t do anything about it. We tried for a child, but we weren’t lucky. I don’t even want to talk about it. Now, we are facing the consequences of our actions.

My name is Laura, and I had my son, Ethan, when I was 40 years old. My husband, Mark, and I had been trying for years to conceive, but it just wasn’t happening for us. We went through countless fertility treatments, and the emotional toll was immense. When we finally got pregnant, we were overjoyed. Ethan was our miracle baby, and we wanted to give him the world.

From the moment Ethan was born, we showered him with love and attention. We wanted to make up for all the years we had waited for him. We bought him the best clothes, the latest toys, and enrolled him in every activity imaginable. We wanted him to have everything we never had growing up.

As Ethan grew older, we continued to indulge his every whim. If he wanted something, we got it for him. If he didn’t like something, we changed it. We never wanted him to feel deprived or unhappy. But as time went on, we started to notice a change in Ethan’s behavior.

He became demanding and entitled. He expected everything to be handed to him on a silver platter. He didn’t appreciate the things he had and always wanted more. He threw tantrums when he didn’t get his way and showed little regard for others’ feelings.

We tried to set boundaries and teach him the value of hard work and gratitude, but it was too late. Ethan had grown accustomed to getting what he wanted without any effort. He had become selfish and self-centered.

Now, Ethan is 18 years old, and we are at our wit’s end. He refuses to get a job or contribute to the household in any way. He spends his days playing video games and hanging out with friends who are just as entitled as he is. He has no respect for us or anyone else.

We’ve tried talking to him, reasoning with him, and even seeking professional help, but nothing seems to work. He doesn’t see anything wrong with his behavior and believes that the world owes him everything.

Mark and I are exhausted and heartbroken. We love our son dearly, but we don’t know how to reach him. We fear that we’ve created a monster who will never be able to function in the real world.

We often wonder if things would have been different if we had been younger when we had Ethan. Maybe we would have had more energy and patience to set firm boundaries from the start. Maybe we wouldn’t have felt the need to overcompensate for all the years we waited for him.

But it’s too late for maybes now. We can only hope that one day Ethan will realize the error of his ways and change for the better. Until then, we are left to deal with the consequences of our actions.