Why am I still waiting for my dad to actually see me as an adult?

Because explicit recognition from your parent is one of the few things adulthood doesn't replace. Money doesn't replace it. Marriage doesn't replace it. Career success doesn't replace it. Kris Kluver, in The Dysfunctional Family Office, gives this internal voice to Gail Mitchell, a forty-year-old VP with a Stanford MBA who is still quietly waiting for her father to see her as an adult worth taking seriously. The waiting is universal in UHNW families. The fix is rarely waiting longer. The fix is asking directly. Most adult kids assume the parent will eventually notice on their own. Most parents never do. The conversation has to be initiated by someone, usually the kid, and usually after years of silent waiting. The discomfort of asking is much smaller than the cost of not asking.