Hello Anita, my apologies for not responding earlier, dealing with an aggressive skin allergy that has laid me low for a few weeks, hopefully I am getting better. I think you are bang on – he does have low self esteem and all the other issues you mentioned. Though I can’t figure out why because right from his childhood his mom quite her job to be with the children and I eased up at 40 to be available to my kids and have supported them throughout. But it is what it is. I did try to empathetic approach for a while. may have been too short though. As to treating him like a child, we are Indians – we never seem to grow old as far as our parents are concerned LOL! But I get your message loud and clear and will try to change my attitude to this issue. But I have one more question to ask of you: whenever the topic veers to anything to do with him, he immediately becomes aggressive, shouts may be to shut us up. How do I get him to open up considering he refuses to even sit and talk with me?