How did you get her back, neverbluffer? I had a college roommate who got herself legally emancipated and lived apart from her family — but she didn’t go back. She supported herself through college. It was a state school, though, and tuition and boarding were low enough back then that they were affordable if you had a fairly good job and she did, clerk-typist for a lawyer. Don’t know if she had any loans, but she graduated. She told me that her father was physically abusive and she was a rebel. Bad combination.
She finally realized that she didn’t want to be an adult just yet, paying all the bills on her own.
She also realized that the family of the friend that was letting her live in their home was not really looking out for her best interests or treated her like family.
We took a “let them hit rock bottom” approach and it worked like a charm.
When she hit rock bottom (no money, no family, missed family vacations, etc.) she decided how good she had it at home.
The problem is that there are so many people out there that just willingly usurp another family’s authority and feel it is ok to assume the parent role of someone else’s child.