My parents would have never let me pull a stunt like that. My husband's Mom is a different story! She preached "tough love" and then would turn around and bail him out of everything. My impression is that this happen because of her guilt for the garbage they were exposed to (3 failed marriages, alcohol abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse, etc). I think some of her guilt was, and is, doled out by my husband. He blames her for his "rotten childhood" and in turn, now expects her to bend over backwards for him.
It's quite different for me towards my parents. I have alot of acceptance for them and the way they handled parenting. They by no means were model parents, and there was certainly alot of dysfunction, but they did the best they could. Now it's my turn to take the torch and run with it. It's my life, and it's my responsibility to make it the best it can be.
As the expression goes, the buck stops here.