>>>>http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1383806/Surgeon-blasts-new-corset-piercing-fad-pierced-skin-pulled-ribbons.html
>>>
>>>Yuck, that's awful! I don't have *any* kind of piercing, not even my ears. Never did, never will.
>>>
>>
>>Maybe it's a generational thing. When Emily was 17 she said she wanted to get her tongue pierced. Out of respect of her I agreed. Neither girl had any tattoos. I drove her to the tattoo parlor in McHenry. You can't get a piercing or a tattoo in Illinois without someone over 18 with you. This place was one inch above a biker bar. I signed the paper and Allie went with her and the biker into the basement. That was when I knew I respected her enough to live her own life.
>
>but there is a fine line between being a parent and offering guidance and trying to be their best friend..... Respect is ok, but you still have to guide...

We are in complete agreement. The main role of a parent is to guide, even though it's natural to want to be liked. My point was that my job with her is basically done. I am very happy with how well she has turned out and am proud to have played a role.

Madison will be a challenge. I was there last weekend for the first time in years. If anything it seems even crazier than it was when I went to school there, when it was already a legendary party school (as well as strong academically). On Saturday there was an annual event called the Mifflin Street block party which has been going on since the hippie / antiwar era. For years there have been problems -- drunkenness, sexual assaults, decks collapsing. In an attempt to address the problem the city changed the rules this year. Instead of alcohol being limited to private residences in the three blocks of Mifflin St. (a.k.a. Miffland), no open carry, attendees were allowed to drink alcohol openly anywhere including the street. Bad idea. In the postmortem everyone -- the mayor, the police, news media -- said this was by far the worst they have seen. My GF and I were walking up State Street, the main drag between central campus and the Capitol, at around noon or 1 p.m. and even that early the street was full of people staggering to stay upright, hollering like idiots, and so on. I do trust her but part of me wishes she was going to some small liberal arts college out in the sticks.

If anyone wants uncertainty as a constant companion all they have to do is have a kid ;-)