(NNPA)—Dear Gwendolyn:
My husband is really acting strange. My daughter is 17 and he refuses to allow her to date. She graduates from high school this spring and he thinks she should not date until she has finished. He says, “She needs to get her education first.” I don’t know where he got that ridiculous theory.
My grandmother used to talk with my husband at length when my daughter was growing up. I can remember when I was young, my mother and grandma had that same harsh conversation about me. Grandma wanted me to date at 17 and my mother said I could date at 16. My husband constantly claims he is not going to raise grandchildren.
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Gwendolyn, because of my husband’s actions, I seem to have lost my love for him. Also, he is my daughter’s stepfather. He says she should have discussed her dating with him.—Alma
Dear Alma:
A discussion of when to date is a conversation between a daughter and her mother. Inform your husband that people at some point in time used to be concerned about their daughter getting pregnant. I must admit that thinking was not in every home. There are parents that believe when their child is in trouble, come home. Think about it. Men are known to wait around bus stations for teenagers who have no place to go. These men force young girls into drug addiction and introduce them to the life of prostitution.
Alma, I agree with you and disagree with your husband and your grandma’s belief. As for your husband (your daughter’s stepfather) it could be innocent, but looks bad for that much attention to be given. It is good to be concerned, but the teen years are when the apron string is cut—and children grow into adults, successful or—unsuccessful.
(Do you have a son or grandson age 10-17? Help him to choose college—not jail. To order go to website: www.gwenbaines.com or write to her at: P.O. Box 10066, Raleigh, N.C. 27605-0066 [to receive a reply send a self-addressed stamped envelope] or email her at: gwenbaines@hotmail.com. If you have a problem? “Ask Gwendolyn Baines.”)
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