Soon to be new guy

[dkatz4]

18, I believe she's 35.

That rat was his baby, and he caused its death unintentionally. Our rats are loving pets in our life, not a source of food for our snakes.(: He wants to get his heart rat cremated, and I sort of want to do the same with my own when the time comes. He's getting him cremated and having the ashes put into a little necklace.

ok, that is interesting - i am 34, and although my oldest just turned 4, i teach college First-years (mostly 18-y-o) so i have some inkling of that age gap. now especially if you haven't lived together in years, i'm going to suggest (and i think its safe to say that i, as everyone here, am speculating wildly, but with only good intentions) that the conflict between you may bear more resemblance to sibling rivalry than parent/child. you two are at opposite ends of the same age group, in many ways you are peers. Think of the mild distain your graduating class had for the incoming freshmen, well we 30-somethings have that for you millennials in spades (not to say that any of it is valid) so take that awkward dynamic and then factor in fact that one of you gave birth to the other, and in doing so may very likely have missed out on a great deal of the fun of early adulthood which you are now enjoying, (which is fine btw, i'm not suggesting you should feel guilty for acting your age) and you have all the ingredients for a stew of psychological and emotional turmoil that could manifest itself in any number of ways from the fairly common, "she's always right and i'm always wrong" to the more novel, "she smells phantom odors". So i'm not trying to say, "hey give your mom a break, she's had it tough." I'm saying that your relationship is very unique and if you consider all the non-traditional aspects of it, you may find resolutions that you had not thought of before.

[steps down from podium, adjusts spectacles, lights pipe]