Was I Rude?

Situation as it stands right now: My husband ("Intrepid") is gone and has been since last Monday. Let's just say I have a no contact order against him and leave it at that. He is the main breadwinner right now because the law firm three of us who went to law school is just getting off the ground. I am still getting money from him because he wants to keep a roof over the kids' heads. Yet things are most likely heading for divorce. Anyway, this has put my parents into a panic because a) they are traditional and feel we should try to work this out for the sake of the kids; and b) since it does not look like it is going to work out, I had better get a job like yesterday since I am not getting much in right now. I have been considering some little part-time office-y job just to give the income a needed boost.

My parents wanted to take the kids for the weekend, since it was a stressful week for me, and I took the opportunity take a 6 hour road trip to visit a friend and fellow lawyer who has been my greatest champion and mentor for as long as we have known each other. Although driving through the Flint Hills is enough to make you want to pound your head on the steering wheel. One hundred miles or so of natural prairie. Very pretty at first, but one soon gets tired of seeing nothing but cows, grass and the occasional oil rig. There is the back story.

I had a great trip ("Prolixity" loves to instruct me in lawyer-like stuff and even gave me some common forms I can adapt to my own state) and returned this afternoon to have dinner with the parents and pick up the kids. My dad meets me at the door with the classified section of the Sunday paper in his hand, all the jobs he felt were "appropriate" highlighted. I was just shocked. I am not 16; I know the basics of job hunting and I am capable of doing it by myself. I thanked him for the classifieds and told him I appreciated getting the want ads from them since I do not get the paper. I also added that I knew what I was looking for in a part time job and could handle it by myself. Dad got his offended look on his face, mumbled "Well, I was only trying to help." and stalked off. He did not talk to me again until it was time to say goodbye.

It was when I was leaving that I upset my mom. I am on some medication that leaves me drowsy after I take it. I was due for another dose at the time we left, which is why I excused us and said we really needed to get home. My mother said as we walked out the door. "Don't take your pills until the kids are in bed, ok? You don't need to be falling asleep while they are awake. They need someone watching them." To which I replied, "Mom, I realize that you are just trying to help out, but I have been on these pills for 2 months and am aware of their effects." She says these kinds of things often so I also reminded her that I am an adult now, and I would really like it if she treated me like grown offspring rather than a 16 year old. We have had these talks before. She cuts me off midsentence by huffing "Goodbye!" and shutting the door in my face. Was I too rude? Did I phrase something wrong?

Prolixity is no help in this manner because there is little love lost between him and my mother (that is a story in and of itself), I do not have Intrepid to bounce it off of, and my other close friend, Nando, is a self-professed boor. There are times I hate not being able to gauge such things on my own.

(Everyone referred to by screen names to protect privacy)