Letting go of a loved one...

When I was a little girl, I thought, I just need to be 18 years..then no
one can tell me how to live my life. Oh God, how very wrong I was,
there is nothing as living your own life ....we try our best to do it in
our own way, but most of the rules are preset and we just follow the
guideline. We do what the norm is...other wise is dubbed as the
"abnormal". Today I am a mother of two boys, and have number
of niece and nephews, who I am pretty close to. When I talk to
them, I realize, that they do not think very differently from our
times, when we were of their age. That basic feelings of living
a independent life is still predominant in them too.


  Now comes the issue of letting go...I for one have been facing 

this situation recently.  One of my boys is 15 years old and is a

 teenager in the threshold of his manhood, with obvious 

different views from me.  I am treading the fine line in which,

 if I do not agree with him then am a pain in his butt and if I 

do then am very lenient.  As a mom I do not obviously agree

 with most of his views and outlooks and again as an individual

 I do respect his independence.  I guess there have been several

 moms and are thousand of moms in similar situation like mine. 

 My mother must have had this issue to solve, when she had me

 and my sister come up to the age.  

  Is letting go a good idea...at what age...and do I still have the

 right to go and correct him if he is wrong...all these questions 

are such a fierce storm in me, that I feel am loosing my sanity 

sometimes.  Yes, I do have a younger one to concentrate on,

 and he is a bigger challenge,  May be that is my answer, to

 all these questions.  

  I wonder, do dads go through this sort of feelings as most

 of the moms.....or is it just a female thing, as we are the ones

 in charge of the off-springs since the time of conception.  I

 do know few dads that would not like their daughters to take

 up a college far from home.  May be there is a relation with

 dads and their daughters and mom and their sons.  Some 

moms get the art of letting go easily while others do have to

 develop it.  What ever the factors involved, as parent I surely

 know that  it is difficult for us to let go of our babies... 

irrespective of their size...and age....we are in some way 

connected and will be for life.