My teens are 17 & 19 and were not allowed to date until they were 16.
We did allow them to go in groups to the movies or out to eat or just have everyone over and hang out at our house. I just always made sure we had soda and juice in the fridge and snacks in the cupboard. Every Friday night we would order pizza or bbq. Sure our grocery bill went up but it gave us piece of mind as well as the kids a place to go.
We let them know we would check in on them or we would watch movies together.
We have a good relationship with most of the kids and the kids still stop by just to talk with my husband or me. It also gives you a chance to get to know the kids and make some judgement calls to interfere if you need to.We even had one friend of our sons live with us for about 4 months last year. He calls me his second mom...we really got him turned around and back on track. |