Ok this is for all the sons out there, young and old, please offer some insight.

I'm going to have to seriously disagree with you here. Friendship is not about sentiment and its not about extremes, in most cases. I already stated that relationships between sons and mothers and daughters and mothers are different. I wouldn't have a post if it wasn't. But as a woman who had a close friendship with my mother I can promise you it was more about respect, liking, and openness. It was also not a relationship that could ever be easily changed. And to state that boys are more rational you are implying that woman are irrational, which I seriously resent. I've met just as many rational and irrational women as I have men. I don't think that is at all a character trait defined by gender. Frankly I don't want only concern and understanding from my children when they become adults. If that is the only feelings they have for me then they can keep them. I also don't think that nice and upright is the qualities I most admired in my mother or try to achieve as a mother. You can't always be nice to your kids, being nice does not make you a good parent. And frankly I'm not always "nice" to my friends and they aren't always nice to me either. Sometimes the people close to you have to tell you the truth wether it is nice or not. And parents need to teach their children limits, if I was nice to them in their minds I wouldn't be protecting them or teaching them limits. My mother managed to not always be nice to me and frankly not always truthful. Yet I grew up to view her as a close friend. I also loved her, respected her, admired her, and wish every day to be half the mother she was to me. I guess I can chalk up your response to yet another example of a mother son relationship I do not wish to have with my sons, sadly there are way too many examples of that.

I am sorry for the response that resulted in your displeasure. I grew up in the oriental culture, in which the boys were taught to controll their emotions and keep their feelings to themselves. There was no such request to the girls. I don't mean to discriminate against women. But you can see this kind of culture can exerted an influence on their behavior, and also on their relationship with their parents. I know that women share more secrets with each other than men. So daughters tend to have more close relationship with their mothers than boys with their mothers. I consider this situation as a common fact, though I believe that you can have a great relationship with your kids.