I’m a single dad to two teen kids and they are starting to be interested in the opposite sex
DEAR DEIDRE: MY kids are starting to be interested in the opposite sex and I’m ill-equipped to deal with it all.
I’m a single dad of 38, to a 13-year-old girl and a 15-year-old boy.
Their mum left us all when the children were five and seven, to go back to her home in South America.
There is little communication with her.
My son has recently brought home a girlfriend.
She is the same age and seems nice enough.
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She says hello and then they go up to his room until her mother picks her up.
I don’t even know how to begin a talk about the “birds and the bees”.
Now my daughter has asked if she can bring a boy back after school.
He is 14 and I know him from football training.
I don’t know how I’ll react if they assume they can spend the evening in her bedroom.
I’m rubbish at this sort of thing. Help!
MORE FROM DEAR DEIDRE
DEIDRE SAYS: No matter how awkward, you have to discuss this. It’s important to set some ground rules.
If you’d prefer them to be in their bedrooms with the door open, then tell them so.
Reassure them it’s healthy to start dating, but clarify they cannot have a sexual relationship under 16.
My support pack called Under Age Sex explains why.
It can feel less overwhelming for you both to talk while walking together or in the car – it’s less intense.