difference of opinion

My son thinks I'm over-protective. By that he means, I worry too much about his safety.

I know he's right.  I'm thankful he lives in New York and isn't in cars much.  That eliminates that worry.

And he's smart (I think) about taking ridiculous risks. He is conscious of living a somewhat healthy life. 

But I think like many kids his age, Alexander thinks he's invincible.

When my son was living at college, I worried less. If he was walking around campus late at night, well, I didn't know.  There's a lot of comfort in not knowing.

But now that my son is living at home, I do know, and I do worry.  I still find it difficult to fall asleep until he's home.  I may be able to drift off, but it's rare that my sleep is a deep one. I can only really let sleep take me when I hear the front door open and close.

I've asked Alexander to leave his phone on, and stay in touch if he's going to be in late.  But one argument we haven't resolved yet involves transportation.  When is it okay to walk home alone, and when should my son take a cab or uber?

If it's after 1a.m., I think my son should not be roaming the streets of Manhattan alone. Alexander overwhelmingly disagrees. 

Alexander gets home around 12:30 a.m. this morning. He tells me his friend lives a few blocks away when he lives more like a mile away. It's my son's way of avoiding the discussion of transportation. We end up in an argument.

"Mom, what do you think is going to happen to me?"

"When was the last time you heard of someone getting murdered on the Upper East Side?"

"Or abducted?"  

And then Alexander starts quoting crime statistics I'm in no position to dispute. 

So this morning I find myself researching serious crime on the Upper East Side. I learn:

• Crime increases in warmer weather. So summer is more dangerous than winter.
• NYC homicides overall are up 20% this year vs. last.
• Even though the Upper East Side is low on murders for the first six months of this year (only 1), it's not so low on robberies and felony assaults (103).  

I am now better equipped to argue. My point is a simple one. "TAKE A CAB" after one a.m.  You may not be abducted. You likely won't be murdered. But you could be held up. And that scares me.

Is living with a concerned mom really that bad? Seems to me it's a small price to pay for free rent?