I do this, but my parents don’t expect it. I just make 10x their income and would never let them buy their own ticket to come see me, or not help them change the car when needed. But my parents never want it. Never implied I had to. I just do it because l am where I am because of their own sacrifices. Now I have to convince them to have some fun in life because all they know is work.
(For perspective, I’m low income in SF).
I'm not discounting what you do, but having to support a household as a child is materially different to what you do for your parents. It sounds like if you don't chip in - no one will go to bed hungry, and bills will still be paid.
I have done both. And any time my own expenses go up or their expenses go up and I don’t feel like I’ll have enough to send my stress spikes.
What I was trying to say was that there are cases of selfless parents out there that don’t want any money back. My parents have gone without eating to feed me. We’ve struggled to pay the bus fare to go to school, but they never asked for anything in return. That doesn’t mean I don’t help them.
