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Dear care and food,
My son is 17 years old, and I found out he was cheating on him with his girlfriend, and I'm an unwilling party to it (I walked in on my son kissing another girl in the break room and walked in on him kissing another girl). , several times I turned around silently). I don't believe that teenagers should be involved in their friendships or relationships unless it's absolutely necessary, but I'm having trouble with this.
Should I talk to him? Should I ask his father to talk to him? His father and I have a good co-parenting relationship, but he's not so great with the so-called “emotional stuff”. I don't want to be involved in refereeing a teenager's love life, but what he's doing is widely understood to be harmful, and I don't want him to think it's okay. What should I do?
–Confused mom
Dear Confused Mom,
I don't think discussing this with your son will turn you into an official relationship counselor. Asking him to tell you what's going on is probably the easiest approach. It's free and gives him a chance to say if his girlfriend is still his girlfriend and/or if he's agreed to date someone else (perhaps he doesn't have her full knowledge). and kissing other girls, no one will know). You can point out that if he is really cheating, he will be hurt if his girlfriend finds out and it would be better for him to be honest.
Your son is 17 years old, but he's still your child and you're his parent, so it's not wrong or unreasonable to discuss dating and relationships with him. On the contrary, it's part of your job and you shouldn't do it. There's no need to wait until something seems “very wrong.” I hope you've already talked to him about safety, consent, contraception, etc. If so, it shouldn't be difficult to talk to him about treating the people you're dating with respect.
—Nicole
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