Remember the movie Failiure To Launch? Where Sarah Jessica Parker is hired by desperate aging parents to encourage Matthew McConaughey to leave the parental home?

Well that sort of fantasy case has come to life up in Italy. Only the desperate parents didn't hire a professional motivator...they engaged the services of a lawyer..and the judiciary!

After several miserably failed attempts to convince their 41-year-old son to leave home, a couple in Venice have hired a lawyer in a last resort bid for domestic bliss and serenity, according to the Italian media earlier this week.

The parents, whose names were not published, were said to be exhausted by fending for their adult son, cooking his meals and doing his washing and ironing.

"We cannot do it anymore. My wife is suffering from stress and had to be hospitalised," said the father, who approached the legal department of a consumer association, ADICO, for assistance in the matter.

The son "has a good job but still lives at home. He demands that his clothes be washed and ironed and his meals prepared. He really has no intention of leaving."

There have been reports that the son also has some violent tendencies.

ADICO lawyer Andrea Camp said a letter was sent to the son, advising him to leave the house within six days or face legal action.
If this is refused by him, lawyers will ask a court to issue a protection order to the parents against their son.

ADICO says hundreds of Italian families face similar difficulty getting rid of their adult children.

The latest couple turned to ADICO two weeks ago after hearing of a similar case in which the association had convinced a son to abandon the family cocoon -- after which his parents changed the locks.

In Italy, where children marry much later in life, if at all, a majority have tended to live at home with parents.

"It is a situation that not only Italy is facing, but several cultures worldwide," says Silvia DiMartino, a pscyhologist in Rome.

"Parents originally do not want to be alone and see their chidlren leave the home, as family is a firmly rooted asset in our culture. But in recent years many parents have become sick of the kids' attitudes of entitlement when it comes to their parents during adulthood. It starts when the children are young, because if a boy has always known his mother to cook and clean for him, when he is an adult he thinks 'why should anything change?' DiMartino explained.

For reasons of singlehood, divorce, incapacitation, or sheer laziness - whatever the reason, the fact is that many grown offspring are electing to stay at home longer. DiMartino theorises that as a result of living at home, children develop a "Mummy's Boy/Daddy's Girl" mentality long into adulthood.

While such an arrangement is embraced by many cultures besides Italian, Dr DiMartino has some tips to share.

"If you are going to have your adult children live with you, you need to set some ground rules, that they do a share of the cooking, cleaning, financial contribution towards the groceries or the home, and helping around the house. If you put your foot down earlier, you can avoid ugly battles where you have to hire a lawyer to get rid of your big baby".

Wise words Dr DiMartino. Ofcourse, it is important that parents worldwide, not just Italy, teach their children responsibility, maturity and so forth. However, it is also the role of the child to want to grow and become independent, even if they live at home. Do the right thing by your parents kids, be good to them, help them, and be there for them.