General Discussion

And I'm already having trouble remembering it!!

Although I was a mostly well-behaved kid, 17 was my last year of school and my parents were quite concerned about whether I would be able to get into university or not (not because of lack of academic achievement or lack of commitment, just the normal worry that most parents have when their kids hit their final yea of school). And yet they also knew my friends and had known them (and in most cases their parents) quite well for several years -one of them even moved in the same work circles as my mother so they weren't worried about what we'd get up to together and they placed a lot of trust in us that we never violated

On weeknights and particularly in the weeknights and weekends leading up to major exams, they typically liked me to be home by about 10 at the latest (although this was largely an unspoken rule). I do remember that at some times, I was not allowed to stay up as late as some of my friends were and had to come home earlier

However, during holidays and quite often on weekends as well -if my memory serves me accurately -they were much more flexible. I think midnight was the official time but, if I was going to be home later, I had to ring up and tell them where I was and what I was doing. As long as I did that, I seem to recall they were prepared to be flexible -partially because the latest I would come back even in those circumstances was about 12:30AM-1:00AM anyway. My parents seemed to strike an adequate balance in terms of strictness and flexibility and we very rarely had any real conflicts -in fact I can only remember one time and that was because I didn't ring up and call them when I was late