Dear Gwendolyn: After my divorce, I immediately met another man who showered me with love -at least that’s what I thought at first. He moved into my house three weeks after we met.
This is the problem: I don’t have time to concentrate on my new relationship because my concerns are towards my daughter. For the past year, my 14 year old daughter forbids me to enter her bedroom. Two weeks ago when I went to her door to knock, I heard a man’s voice. It sounded like my man’s voice. Later that night, when I asked her if my boyfriend was in her room, she replied, “If so? So what?”
Gwendolyn, I fear she is on the internet caught up with all the junk teenagers are into these days. I want to be one of the ‘new age’ moms, but I can’t decide to be strict or open-minded.
Jill
Dear Jill:
I can decide for you. But, first let me tell you this: Parents need to remove the TV from their child’s bedroom. Too many teenagers have gone on the chat lines and met death. Think about it. There is nothing wrong with being considered an obsolete mom.
There are a few things you can do: Take her to a prison facility for women and there she will get the opportunity to see beautiful smart and some even intelligent women wasting away. At 14, you should have never given her privacy. Fourteen is actually still the age of a child – but, unfortunately, a child trying to be an adult.
I think you need to watch carefully your new man. If the voice you heard in your daughter’s room sounded like your man, there is a strong possibility it was. Don’t turn your attention away from this matter. And, do not allow your daughter to be 14 saying, “If so? So what? Be firm with her and remember children and teenagers these days harm their parents without remorse. Be careful.
Jill, giving your child privacy at a too young age is not good. With the internet, no parent knows who is lurking … behind the door.
