'In' or 'Out'...SHUT THE DOOR

My son keeps running in and out of the house. I tell him to stay in or stay out, and 'shut the door behind you.' He does this all the time now, as he's spreading his wings...and it drives us CRAZY!!!

But, then it occurred to me that this is really a metaphor for the transitions he'll face and, by extension, we'll face as he starts to become more independant: As a baby he was always 'in' the house, now he is constantly testing his wings to see how far 'out' of the house he can get before we call him back 'in'. Eventually, he'll go 'out' for good, but I don't want him to stay 'out', so then I'll be fine if he comes 'in' and 'out'.

But, I still want him to close the door either way.