Parent bashing, flavour of the week, article.
And I agree one may overestimate one's child, but can one overvalue it?
If you give up something really important for a child, that can put a lot of pressure on him or her to meet your expectations. In general, if parents are greatly invested in the success of a child, that increases pressure. I've had wonderful parents, but in my 20s, when I was worrying about my career direction, a big part of the worry was how they would take things, because a temporary reverse would disturb them as much as me.
It may sound cold, but one thing you can do for your adult children is communicate that the happiness of you and your spouse does not depend entirely on how well they are doing.
