Mommy's boy

R is a total Mama's boy and I couldn't be happier about it. Yeah, it may be short lived, but right now, I am his whole world. He lights up when he sees me, throws a fit if I am not around and just generally would rather be with me then anyone else. Which leads me to a thought?

How do you find the right balance of being "needed" by your kids and turning your boy into a Mama's boy at 22? R, at the moment, is a total crank if I am not home at night. Normally, this is not a problem, but on the rare ocassion that I DO have something to do at night (continuing legal education classes for example -- the bane of any lawyers existance), it makes for a really hard night for B. L is running around like a nut and is used to being the center of Daddy's world in the evenings and R just wants to be held, cuddled and nursed. Bottles just don't cut it for him at night.

Not to mention, this also stems from our neighbors. We have a wonderful neighbor P who is one of those parents that makes me shake my head. She knows this and we discuss it at length, but here are some examples -- her 12 year old son cries and gets upset if she goes out at night with friends, he is INCAPABLE of getting himself ANYTHING to eat, he is INCAPABLE of even picking up his towel off the floor of the bathroom and last but not least doesn't even pick out his own boxers to wear (and I mean that like P picks out a t-shirt and boxers for him and places it in the bathroom with a fresh towel so when he goes in to shower it is all there waiting for him!!). Again -- he is TWELVE people. Anyways, since she is overly concerned with being her son's friend and I am NOT, I know I won't get to that stage, but seriously, how do you find that balance, because let me tell you how much I love R's NEED for me for right now.