Unhealthy Family Behavior, Part Three

My twelve year old son and a bunch of his friends got themselves into a bit of trouble recently. As a result, most of the boys in the neighborhood have been grounded, and haven't really been allowed to hang around with each other.

Tonight I was at my Dad's house and he was telling me that he thinks my husband and I are being too hard on my son. He thinks we should let the boys see each other, just make sure they stay outside. "Boys will be boys", he said. And then he went on to say that he blames my husband and me for what happened. Said it was our fault for letting my son spend the night with his friends. Said he tried to warn us that was a bad idea, so...he blames us.

This isn't the first time my Dad blamed something my son did on me (Unhealthy Family Behavior Part One, dated 12/7/2009) and something tells me it won't be the last.

And I wonder how I got to the point in my life where I think I'm responsible for the health, happiness, and well being of everyone around me????