teenage "stay" away

RE: teenage

You have gotten some great advice from the fantastic ladies on the board. I just wanted to add one more. Have you tried talking to the boyfriend about the situation this relationship places your daughter in? I would ask him why he is with your daughter if he knows that the relationship means she wouldn't be in school regular and wouldn't be in a safe, warm bed every night? Seems to me that at 25 he should be able to see past the Romeo/Juliet crap and make some decisions for her that she is not mature enough to make for herself. Honestly he should be telling her that he won't see her unless she goes home and stays in school. In this conversation I might mention the stat. rape issue and that you just don't want to have to go there. ;)

Now if that doesn't work. Call the cops to bring her home. She'll hate you now but love you later.

KIM
 
RE: teenage

Yes, I want to do that too - just don't have a number to get in touch with him. I may check my old cell phone bills to see if I can figure it out.

Thanks for another good idea.
 
RE: teenage

Update for all of you who gave me advice:

The school counselor said DD is not as far behind as she thinks she is and he will support her even continuing through and independent study program which she could complete possibly by Feb.

He said to call attendance office re: truancy. DD believes she can drop out of school after the age of 16 - not true. In CA you must be enrolled in some sort of educational program up to the age of 18 -which for her is next May. And . . . the Dept of Motor Vehicles (DD does not have her drivers' license yet) can put a "hold" on it up until the age of 25 if they wish since she did not stay enrolled in high school.

DD has called her "estranged" father who sent her $ in order to help her - guessing it is much less than child support - yes, he went by there the day she called him to stop support. That is fine with me, but unfortunately it seems to be her fathers' only way to help. Too bad he doesn't try to get her to stay in school.

Attendance officer said I should file a missing persons report with the police - yes, a few of you suggested that too - I just wonder how much farther that will push her away from me . . .

I have a message into my BIL and SIL who are on the police force here in our city. Thought I would like to see if it would be valuable or not. I honestly don't think she will come back to live with me (as much as I wish she would for her own sake). Seems she has been living with her BF who is 25 and supposedly owns a home with his sister who is in the service and away at the time. (Guess his father lives there too according to DD).

Ugh - who would have even dreamt of having to go through this - I had always dreamed of having so much fun with my children and making the family memories which my own immediate family never had the chance to do.

Thanks to all of you who gave me advice - even just over the course of one day you have given me the strength to play it tough since it may be the only way to "save" her from herself.
 
RE: teenage

This topic brings back very bad memories for me from my child-teenage years. My dad died when I was fairly young and after that my mom got married so I had to deal with all different step father issues. I don't think she ever took my side in anything. I always knew that the husband was a lot more important for my mom than me.
Today raising my own 2 teens in a very happy family I knew how much both my mom and I missed out. But one thing is sure, I would never ever allow anybody on this world to tell me what I can or cannot do with my own kids.
 
RE: teenage

>You've gotten some good advice, esp. from Missy--that's
>"tough love", BTW, if she doesn't go to school, she is truant.
>
In our state 17 is the age of consent folks. They have no curfew, can get arrested and you won't be called because they are adults. They can drop out of school and not be truant.

Very tough situation. My heart goes out to you, really not sure what I would do, because your DD is so sure she is in love and you are wrong. That is what 17 is all about. Unfortunately that also means some fairly grave mistakes can be made. Try to open the lines and talk and heal.
 
RE: teenage

Hi
I don't want to sound too preachy but here goes....
I went through a painful adolescence when my parents tried to basically destroy each other during their divorce proceedings. During that time, my younger sister (a wonderfully talented bohemian artist type) got thrown out of 2 schools, ran away, and suffered through many other terrible experiences. All I know is that my mom tried to be a buddy and best friend instead of a guardian and parent.

Now I'm a mom of 2 kids. You've received great advice from these ladies. I would just say that being a parent means being strong enough to make the best decisions for your kid EVEN if your kid dislikes or even HATES you. Big deal, so she doesn't like you, you are her mom and guardian. You are her mom and protector. If she doesn't graduate school, she won't have a decent future and maybe she'll end up trapped in a dead end relationship with no where to go b/c she can't afford to support herself. I know kids are having sex pretty young nowadays but not only does she need birth control, she needs to use a protective barrier like spermicide and a condom so she doesn't get aids, herpes, hpv and god knows what else. Who cares if he's a nice guy if he is not looking out for what is best for your daughter? What does she do all day if she isn't in school? Do you know the people they hang out with? What do they do? Be strong and make it your mission to keep her safe and give her the best future possible. If you don't feel comfortable w/ all these choices, get in contact w/ the police, your school guidance counselor, your principal, etc and let them give you the help they can. When she is a grown adult w/ a family, she'll thank you.
 
RE: teenage

I agree with the previous poster and Wendy as far as tough love goes. He may be a "nice" guy, but he's not helping your daughter out by letting her move out and drop out of school. He's being selfish and only thinking of himself. If he really cared about your daughter he wouldn't let her drop out of school, and he wouldn't have let her move out.
If you were to follow Wendys advice and call the school and cops and have the cops bring her home maybe then you could talk to her. Tell her that you love her and you only want whats best for her. Maybe, I don't know how your relationship is with your daughter, but maybe, you could get her, the boyfriend, DH and yourself to all sit down and figure out a way to make everyone happy? I'm just throwing out ideas, I don't know if they are good or not. But it's an idea. But one other idea is that you stick to your guns, say that she can't see him, hope that she doesn't run away (Which is almost a given) and explain how he doesn't care about her. But I think, being a rebelious teenager at one point in my life too, that if you welcome him into your home, tell her that she can keep seeing him as long as she lives at home and goes back to school. That she will eventually dump him, or he will eventually dump her. Because at that point he's no longer the by she can't see. So, what's the fun in seeing him? Do you see what I am saying at all? There's no challenge at that point.
Good luck.

Kathy
 
RE: teenage

Well, I did go to school to see what she needed to do in order to get some type of high school education. She has a number of options and they are more positive than she was letting on to me.

I was also told to contact the Attendance Officer regarding her truancy.

He told me to file a police report and informed me that she must remain in some type of educational high school program (school, independent study, a shortened day high school, etc.) or when she is found she will have to attend court proceedings and possible not be able to receive her driver's license even at the age of 18 (in CA). Apparently the truancy court can delay a driver's license up to the age of 25 if they wish.

Called and left her a voice mail (she didn't answer again) with all this info.

Then called my SIL/BIL to see exactly what would happen if I did file a missing persons report. Of course, when they find her they pick her up. Then they call me. She comes home with me and then if she leaves again, we go back through the whole process. Since this is not the first time she has done this and she has very many people who would take her in, I had my SIL call her and explain all the consequences of her decisions. She answered that phone call and then called me. (P.S. SIL is a multi service officer and her DH -my BIL - is a SWAT officer)

SIL said she was told I never listen, only yell. Everything I said was trying to control her (DUH - YOU ARE MAKING BAD DECISIONS).
Accused me of saying I was going to have her BF put in jail, why did I tell SIL, etc. She continued to yell and I just patiently waited to let her know that I didn't say that neither did my SIL. We are trying to make sure she is safe, going to school and on the right track. She went to her father's (serious alcoholic and probably at least marijuana depending on whether he gets drug tested at work or not). He always shows up to be the Knight in Shining Armor - a salesman by trade and honestly, I am not sure how much of our married life was even true. I don't think it will last too long as she is very difficult to live with and he has less than 0 patience.

At least she is planning on getting a job and finishing high school if she can get into an independent study program. I will check in with her to see how things are going, but need to let her breathe a little since her father is very overbearing and she sees me that way too.

I know how I would like to control her life and the success I wish for her, but, sometimes we need to realize that all people are not made the same and we must analyze their personalities and deal with them in a way that will be positive and also move them forward with whatever they are having issues with.

As far as the BF goes, they will now be separated by 30 miles so this will be a test as to how strong their relationship really is. He does have a job and supposedly she will have one soon too.

I only hope that one of these nights I will have more than an hour or two of sleep and possibly be able to think while I am at work as that is beginning to steam roll also.

One of the most positive things in my life right now is that my oldest son, 21, has begun to speak to me again. He also said he couldn't stand my DH went to live with his father many years ago. He will be getting married next summer and I sure hope he will include me back into his life. My other son and I are trying to arrange a day off work in order to go spend it with him - he lives about an hour + away from us now.

Again, thank all of you for your support, ideas and actual experiences. They have truly helped me see things from many angles with many emotions attached and it is this wide body of wisdom coupled with my knowledge of my DD's personality traits that I make my decisions on which way to turn as this scenario unfolds.

Bless you all :)
 

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