My 18 year old has turned against me(for a while).
My wife and I have been very happily married for 33 years. There has been very little tension in our home apart from the normal challenges any family faces. Our late baby is now 18 and living with us. He goes to College and has every gadget known to man. He expectsa lot but gives little---totally spoilt---and fawns on his mother. He and I have shared interests for years and I have tried to make up quality time but it is not the quality time a 40 year old can give a teenager. I am nearly 60 and work very hard too.
My wife believes he is jealous of our relationship because he wants her for himself (he really loves his Mom), and he cannot handle another man in the scenario. This is a familiar scenario but why should a child feel like this? It'll turn out fine in a year or two, I'm sure, but I'd really like to know from the experts why a child, who has led virtually a perfect life in a peaceful home, feels this way?
Don't get me wrong. He is a beautiful, balanced individual and he isa worrier and thus worries about me when I'm not home. He depends on me--I organise his schedule --and seems to love me , but is so defensive of his mother that he scolds me if I stress her in any way (small things).
My daughter, who is married, loves me unequivocably and has never felt this way. She has no qualms about her affection and it is unchanging.
I'm not too stressed about this because we live so peacefully but I would love to know why he has this hang-up. Come on experts, tell me what you think.