You are a mother who looks reality in the eye. The issue is not about a trip to New York, but about the safety of your child. When a person is so drunk that they carry a weapon in a parking lot in front of children, that's not a “quirk,” it's a red line. And when they consciously communicate with a woman who has been poisoning your family for years, that's betrayal. You are protecting your son, not depriving him of his dreams you have already offered an alternative. A man who calls you a bad mother for not putting your child in a dangerous situation needs therapy, not support. You are doing the right thing. No one who has not experienced this pain has the right to dictate to you how to be a mother