I guess we Moms are "damned if we DO, and damned if we DON'T", aren't we? My son will be 18 yrs. old in December; he's a Senior in HS, has had his drivers license for nearly two months and is now driving himself to/from school, as well as work, and even a bit of a distance from home (45 mins.) for his weekly guitar lessons and/or spending time with friends from our old neighborhood. He's an only-child and so I can't help but be overly-protective to some degree on one hand, and then lenient on the other because in reality, he NEEDS to learn/gain his independence. Yes, my stomach does turn on daily basis, however, I MUST let him start to "spread his wings". My two eldest brothers passed away at young ages; the oldest was 19 and died in a car accident on his way home from boot camp back in 1961 (I was only 1 yr. old at the time), my second-eldest brother died at the age of 13 (in 1965), on his way home from Middle School. Based on witness/police acccountability, he was riding on the OUTSIDE of the back of a city bus (he must have seen other boys doing this on a prior occasion); the bus stopped short, he fell off and cracked his head on the concrete. When he attempted to get up, he got dizzy and fell back down, hitting his head on the ground again. He died instantly. Since then, up until I became an adult, my Mom was, to say the least, "overbearing" and very strict (especially in my case since I was the youngest, and a girl) and I guess that when I became a parent and as my son grew up, I didn't want to follow suit. Is it easy? HELL NO!! However, hard as it may be, you've got to TRUST your children that they will learn from their mistakes and give them credit that they will have benefitted from YOUR teachings along the way to know/do right from wrong.
OXO
Lucy B.
