My daughter will be graduating from high school this spring, and I'm worried about her college choices—she wants to be an artist, and is refusing to consider schools that might offer a more well-rounded education. As someone who spent most of her own 20s as a "starving artist," I'd love for her to have an education she can rely on for more financial stability—I don't even care what it is! How can I express this to her without overreaching?—Concerned Mom in Beaverton
You're already overreaching. On the upside, your daughter's definitely going to make some terrible art about her overreaching mother who, rather than solving her own problems, asked for advice from a stranger who has no idea what he's talking about. So you've got that to look forward to.
Here's the thing, though—you're right. Your kid's art probably will suck (most does), and as an artist, she almost certainly will fail (most do). But, as someone who does not have children and who knows next to nothing about them, I'm confident, probably, that these are lessons that every stupid teenager has to learn for herself—just like you did. So suck it up, be supportive, and accept the depressing fact that your excruciatingly untalented daughter is going to move back in with you, multiple times, over the next decade. Then she'll do the same thing you did: Give up on her dreams, waste away her life at a soul-strangling job, and start paying into Social Security so that childless cranks like me can get a check every month. Ka-ching!
Do you have a parenting question for Erik Henriksen, who is not a parent but who thinks you could be a better one? Write erik@portlandmercury.com for the chance to have your query answered!