It's so embarrassing to admit, but I can't be the only one who struggles with being snippy towards men who (often rightly) criticize or convict me. I have this terrible lifelong habit of immediately rushing to rabidly defending myself at ANY perceived verbal attack from men, no matter how minor. This habit came from when my mom left and I begun getting into daily adult arguments with my father.

Yesterday, while having lunch with a male coworker from a more traditional part of the world, I mentioned how I'm going to be very busy this spring while helping my boyfriend with some paperwork stuff as he transitions to moving back to my country, picking a city to live in, weighing job options, getting a visa, etc. He kindly interjected that my boyfriend should be doing those things himself, and that it isn't really a girlfriend's responsibility. Naturally, I snipped at him, fighting to explain why I do deserve those responsibilities, and that it is my place. I thought about it for the rest of the evening and realized that he was very right, and by then, it was too late to apologize to him without being awkward.

For those of you who have also struggled with almost instinctually disrespecting men, what are your strategies to be calm and graceful when challenged?