Why do parents feel they have a say in the choices their adult children make?

[Anonymous]

Op I'm surprised you don't have some empathy for this now that you have a child yourself (it sounds like you sort of realized that later in the thread though). I feel like now that I have my own child I"ve thought about how hard it must have been for my parents to bite their tongue so many times in the last 10 or so years when I'm sure they had an opinion. Totally understand how that was probably very annoying for them to comment so strongly. Though I think your assessment of them having poor risk assessment skills is a bit off, as your example of your own risk assessment is a bit off - I know you say a scooter isn't the same as a motorcycle but the risk is still not insignificant if you can go up to 70mph and to compare it to downhill skiing is just not a great risk comparison. 5000 people died in motorcycle accidents in 2017 alone whereas 40 people died in skiing accidents in the last TEN years. I understand not a motorcycle, but still I think you were also not comparing something really comparable at all.

That being said, I think it's understandable your parents have some concerns though they probably should have kept it to themselves and even if you can understand why they might worry about their daughter, we all deep down want to make our parents happy so it's frustrating when we know they are upset. So I understand all around.