This week, the Daddy Daughter Time Friday Blog comes from Kevin James. Kevin is a native of West Michigan, a foundry worker, and father to three daughters. Kevin’s guest blogs focus on raising a teenage daughter.
Boys are everywhere. You can’t hide your daughter forever.
My teenage daughter is boy crazy. She can’t go anywhere without meeting a new guy.
How should a Dad deal with this you might ask?
Well there are many ways you can do it. You can scare them by cleaning your gun when you meet them or maybe come up with some crazy war stories to try and frighten them. But that’s more of a cliché than an actual answer.
What my wife and I did was talk to her one on one about what we expect out of her and just told her that we trust her. We were able to do this and not get too heavy into the topic.
But first I had to ask myself some tough questions.
- Is my child mature enough to make good decisions when out with a guy?
- Will she be able to stand up against peer pressure?
- How are her morals and does she have respect for herself and her body?
Then the questions were aimed at me.
- How has my parenting been?
- Did I raise her to be able to do all of those things?
So far I feel I can answer yes to all of those questions.
Having a teenage daughter in the dating scene is scary. It’s not in your hands. You can’t control what’s going to happen. Think back to when you were a teenager and what was on your mind. I know I had three things on mine: food, sports, and getting to second base.
We do set rules. Here is one example, that may be a little old fashioned, but it works for us.
If a boy comes to pick you up he must come to the door and greet you and a parent. When he brings you home he must walk you to the door as well.
Just as important is how I set an example for her. I treat mom the way I would want a boyfriend to treat my daughter.
Show love and respect it goes a long way. And remember this one thing. It’s not the 20 boys calling you have to worry about. It’s that one boy she calls back. That’s the one she will try to impress and do almost anything for. That’s the one to watch for.
Kevin.
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