irseg

You remind me of my parents. We get along well, but I don't talk to them much anymore. I only give them a vague overview of what's going on in my life, and I never ask them for advice or anything like that.

Reason being, they were so meddlesome, overbearing, and intrusive throughout my childhood that I went on an 18 year mission to get the hell away and make sure I had no more ties or dependency to them whatsoever. Now they've permanently lost any ability to know about or have a say in what goes on in my life, because they abused their right so much when I was stuck living with them.

It's one thing to keep your kid away from others who are truly a bad influence. But making him get rid of a friend because one teacher thinks it's causing a "sarcastic edge" is definitely overdoing it. Did you ever even meet this kid, or are you just going off the teacher's opinion? It's entirely possible that it is instead caused by you being so intrusive in his life.

I think my parents saw the errors of their ways, because they loosened up a bit with my younger sister. She seems to enjoy her childhood much more, she is closer to them, and she's not whoring herself out and smoking crack in back alleys (in fact she's a straight-A student), so I'd say it worked out for the best.