According to conventional wisdom the first half of your life is ruined by your parents and the second half is ruined by your children.

With the current generation of young people still living in the family home well into their late twenties many parents just can't get a break from their duties.

Add to this the burden that many of the current crop of baby boomers face of caring for elderly parents it is little wonder that they are often characterised as the sandwich generation. They are stuck in the middle of two generations of family both making demands on their time and energy.

There is little doubt that the current generation of baby-boomers are ground-breakers. What other group has had to the unenviable task of raising their kids well into their twenties?

Just when they thought their brood may have left the family nest to have a life of their own they now realise that they need to learn to parent a ‘twentysomething' with their inherent issues and at the same time deal with demanding elderly parents who want their independence but want to mum and dad to provide it.

So what's the big deal about parenting kids in their twenties when they are still at home? Research reveals that parents fight with adult children over the same issues they fought about when they were kids – household cleanliness, chores and privacy issues come to the fore once more. It seems that these permakids just never grow up and take responsibility. And why should they when they can permanently camp at mum and dad's place?

Camper's rights these days mean that they can bring a partner home for the night and it matters little if they stay for a week. Mum is still good for doing the washing and cooking those healthy meals that are the stuff of legends. But being a camper means that they don't have to show up for family functions as they have grown beyond all that. The ‘old rights of an adult but responsibility of a kid' stuff is alive and kicking with this generation of permakids.

On a more serious note the current crop of 18-24 year old males is one of the most at-risk groups in the community in terms of mental health disorders and suicide. Failure, the future and finances are just some of the issues this cohort is grappling with. This means that parents can't switch off and leave their sons to make their own way in the world. They need to attend to their brood just as diligently as when they were teenagers.

Young women, maybe independent Generation X'ers but evidence suggests that they still need help negotiating personal relationships and need some assistance to handle the emotional fallout of relationships gone wrong. Who better to fall back on for some old-fashioned TLC but a loving but increasingly-fatigued parent?

Many baby-boomers find that they have become parents second time around following a separation. This late age parenting is a new phenomenon, which can leave even the most assured of adults feeling a little wobbly. Anecdotal evidence suggests that these middle aged parents don't fare too well as their children move into adolescence and beyond. Their kids are letting their hair down just when you want to put your feet up. It can be wearing being a taxi-driver for a sixteen year old party-goer when you are entering your seventh decade.

And with people now living well into their seventies and beyond the current group of baby-boomers are now parenting their own parents. They have to contend with a crop of ‘new-aged' conditions such as dementia and Alzheimer's disease that were little more than words in the dictionary a generation ago.

So what is a baby-boomer to do who is stuck in the middle of two generations? Can they raise kids, care for their parents, change careers and still have a life of their own?

The key lies in understanding the requirements and the rules of play. Baby-boomers are pioneers in every way. As young people we were the first cohort who rebelled on mass against the previous generations' norms and values. We were the first cohort to want to have it all and do it all. We have been writing the rules all our lives and we shouldn't stop now that we are moving into middle age.

We need to do as we always have – learn new skills and do things our own way. We need to learn how to raise kids in their twenties but still maintain a vibrant personal life of our own. Yes, the juggling act continues but we need to be smarter and more selfish about how we spread our load. We need to learn to care for older generation but we need to parent them like we parent our kids – aim for independence at all times.

The parenting journey doesn't end – it continues but we need to grow, continue learning and be innovative with each new situation we face. That's not a problem. Baby-boomers have made growth, innovation and continuous learning an art form. We just need to continue it in growing, learning and innovating in all areas of our lives and that includes raising our kids and caring for our parents.