Combat Addictions

The Dating Game

     I was 18 before I went on my first date. So, when my 13-year-old daughter asked if she could go to the movies with a boy, I answered, ''Sure -- in five years!"

     My daughter argued that everyone her age was dating. I was tempted to say, ''If everyone jumped off a bridge, would you?"

     Instead I handed her a piece of paper and told her to make a dating "wish list."  On a separate sheet, I listed what I could live with. 

    We compared.  My daughter wanted to go to the movies, mall, video arcade and fast-food restaurants with a boy.  I wanted her to "group date" until she was 18.  Also, I wnated to meet the boy in advance.

     We talked, compromised, and came to an agreement.  She would group date until age 16.  She could go to all the places on her list if she went with a group.  New boys would first be invited to the house and could stay for a dinner of, perhaps, pizza.

     So far, things are working out.  But I don't know what will happen when she turns 16. At least I have some time to think about it.