"I Am Tired Of Feeling Helpless As A Parent": This Gen X Mom Is Going Viral For Her Rant About Her Adult Kids
Jessica McCabe (@that1crazy72) is a 51-year-old mom living in Alabama who's now retired from the US Air Force. Recently, she posted a video to TikTok that's racked up over 10 million views, 63,000 comments, and 1.8 million likes talking about her frustration as a parent with the way adult life is shaping up for her 25- and 28-year-old kids — but don't worry, she's very much on their side.
She opens the video by saying, "I am so tired of feeling helpless as a parent. Yes, my kids are grown adults. My oldest is 28. My youngest is 25. And I thought by teaching them what I learned, which is you work hard, you get a good job, you're gonna get the things in life that you need, right? Worked for me, why wouldn't it work for them? Because it doesn't, because the world has fucking changed."
Jessica goes on to share that the way she's seeing her kids struggle to find their footing as adults is more severe than what she saw in her peers. "I see them struggling, and before my generation comes at me, yes, I understand struggling as a part of life. We all struggle, but there's a difference between struggling and drowning. So we struggled, and it was tough. But you know what, we made it. We knew there was a light at the end of the tunnel with our struggle. It seems like kids today, no matter how much they struggle, they just get further and further down."
Then, as an example, she shared a story about her son. "I told my son, all you have to do is work hard, go to college or join the military like I did. He went to college, got his degree, got a full-time job. He moved back in with me right when he graduated from college because he said, 'Hey mom, as soon as I get a job (which was within two weeks of him getting out of college), it'll maybe take me two months, and I'll save up enough money for me to move out. Okay, cool. It's been 10 months. He has saved almost every dime and still can't afford to live. Why are one-bedroom studio apartments almost $2,000 a month. Why?"
She went on to share, "And then I told him, 'Hey, when you turn 25, at least your car insurance will go down.' Hell no. He turned 25, and his car insurance went up $150. I tell him, 'You know, if you need health insurance, get a good job.' He does have health insurance. He has had a medical emergency this week. Had to go to emergency room twice. He had to go to the emergency room because he couldn't get anybody to see him with the health insurance that he has. So, he had to go to an emergency room. Now, he's out money for that, too. It seems like you can never get ahead."
She also shared how things have been going for her daughter. "She wanted to buy her own house. My daughter worked six days a week, 12 hours a day to save up enough for this down payment and finally got this house. She's paying double what I'm paying for my mortgage, but her loan was the same amount. And then, her mortgage company after she's already moved in said, 'Oh, by the way, we forgot to tell you that you need this type of coverage. We forgot at the beginning. That's an extra $200.'"
And there's a whole lot more that you really kinda just need to see. The video is about three minutes long, and her love for her kids and fiery righteous anger make it a truly powerful watch. Check it out:
@that1crazy72 Its no wonder there is a mental health crisis amoung the younger generation..and to make matters worse most cant afford to get treated and if they do they are told to “get a better job” what happened to the middle class just wanting to make w decent living? #housingcrisis #mentalhealth #americandream #rent #longervideos #howtoretire
♬ original sound - That1crazy72
@that1crazy72 / Via tiktok.com