Unfortunately most of us grew up with the Father Knows Best TV show and The Cleavers well let me tell you that was all crap...Most of us that have older children have gone through much sadness and dissalusionment when we were faced with the realitys of "the real world." Michelle, my son at 17, 18 and probably until 22 gave me more missery than you can ever imagine. Horrible nasty girlfriends, they stole from my home, my purse. He was smart mouthed and insolent and left home. First he lived in a commune then he lived under a picnic table near our home at the beach. I went by to see him and said that "no matter what he did, how he felt about me, I loved him totally and when he was ready to act his age and follow the few rules of the house, my door was always open to him." A day later after a very cold and snowy night, he came home and now he's married to a wonderful woman and is the best son, father and step father anyone could ever ask for. Once he came home long ago, he appologized and has never hurt me since. I too ran away at 18, my father was unreasonable and mentally ill but when I saw what it did to my mother, I came back got engaged then married a wonderful boy. My mother never turned her back on me and I always remember apreciated that. I hope your child comes to her senses as many of us has an no harm comes to her in the meantime. It seems no matter how much time passes, some things never change....