Day 15 of 31

It's a beautiful autumn day here. The sky is blue. There is a nicely north breeze and the temperature is 62 degrees. I have the windows and doors open.

I'm recuperating from costochondritis fairly well. At this point the side effects from the steroids are worse than the inflammation. My hands are shaking, so typing may be slow today.

My son is home from college for fall break. Tempers flared last night. Son and daughter do not always see eye to eye -- she is a social work major with undecided political leanings, and she's bipolar. He is computer geek with decidedly Republican leanings, and he's 19 so he knows everything.

There for a little while last night I found myself reliving the toddler days of refereeing disputes. But then I remembered, that's not my job anymore. I told them both to behave like adults because rude isn't acceptable in my house. My daughter backed down and went to bed, my son kept pressing his case. At that point the hubs stepped in had a long conversation with son. Then they did some programming and played some ping pong and everybody went to bed.

Why is is so hard as parent to see your child misbehave? Even at 19? Because what if he stays 19 -- self-centered, cocky, and lacking in compassion for others? 

Then I remind myself, my daughter got over being 19, so he will too. (I hope its' sooner rather than later, though!)