Help, my 17 year old daughter is being A PAIN?

Question

I have a 25 year old daughter who is datin a 32 year old man.

If that's not bad enough, I have another daughter who is 17.

My lovely husband and I are going to the movies tonight, and my 17 year old daughter wants to stay home.

I don't think she's old enough to stay home by herself and I keep telling her to call a babysitter, but she refuses.

Should I punish her? Spank her? Call the babysitter myself?

Answer 1

You daughter is well old enough to be left home alone... calling a BABYsitter for an almost ADULT must be embarrassing for your daughter. i have a friend who is 14 shes a babysitter... so do you really want my 14 year old friend or someone else's "baby Sitting" your daughter who is less than a year away from legal adulthood.

maybe there is more to this story than you told us... if you dont trust her to stay home alone.. pay for her to spend the night out with some of her friends

but by all goodness please let your daughter be a kid she almost has no time left.

also you have to give her the benefit of the doubt when it comes to doing what is right, until she gives you reason not to... (tell her to stay outta trouble and not to burn the house down and that you will be back in a few hours) if it makes you more comfortable call her ONCE during your night out see how things are going.

and enjoy your self! and let her do the same!

Answer 2

Your 17 year-old daughter's too old for a babysitter. I can understand you not wanting to leave her at home by herself. You know your daughter better than I do and if you trusted her in every single situation, you'd trust her at home alone.
But you don't. So tell her she has to line up another activity that she can do so that she comes home after your husband and you do. (I assume she doesn't have a key and come and go at night as she pleases.)
As far as the 25-yr old dating a 32-yr old, I say it's fine. If they should marry, he will be 42 yrs old in 10 years. She will be 35 then. It's not such a huge age difference then. She's 25 now which means she's not 'high school immature' which is when those age differences are really significant.
He may be more mature and stable than the 25 yr old guys she knows.

Answer 3

I think you need to let go of your daughters. The 25 year old is an adult. She can date whoever she wants. Its just a seven year difference. The 17 year old is nearly an adult. She doesn't want to be seen around town with her parents. She's almost 18. I started staying home without a babysitter when I was 12 with my 10 year old brother. If you call a babysitter, she will probably be younger than your daughter. You should just let her stay home alone.

Answer 4

Oh. my. god. Seventeen? Although I've always been mature and responsible, my parents have let me stay home by myself since I was 10. In one year your daughter will be an adult, and will eventually need to live on her own. Let her grow up for god's sake, and don't suffocate her! Punishing her and spanking her is freaked up. My last spanking was when I was four. Any spanking beyond the age of like 10 falls into child abuse. Most babysitters are 14+. I baby sit and I'm almost 14. Don't you think that it would be odd for a 14 year old to babysit a 17 year old. You yourself need to grow up and stop being such a pain.

Answer 5

Age 17 is more than old enough to stay home without a babysitter! At this age, your daughter is not a child anymore. Young, yes, but not a child. She's at the age to experience more, become more responsible, have to make more decisions. Allow her to do all this now under your guidance before she has to go away to college (or just away), and make decisions on her own. Allow her to have the responsibility of staying home alone before she leaves and makes bad decisions because you didn't show her responsibility.

Answer 6

I'm sorry, did you say your SEVENTEEN year old daughter? I think that it would be completely unreasonable for you to even consider spanking your seventeen year old daughter because she doesn't want a babysitter. If you were to call a babysitter, the sitter would probably be younger than her, as most children aged 13 are babysitters. I think that you should let your daughter stay home whenever she wants without a sitter!

Answer 7

If you dont trust your daughter anough to let her stay home at the age 17,there should have been alot of spanking going on,shes had to of done something to break a trust bond,I would say tell her that your leaving early and spy on her until its time for the movie,many people would think thats wrong but I think its being a good parent,or you could take her to the movies with you.

Answer 8

she is seventeen she is going to be an adult in a year!! I let my daughter stay ome alone when she was 14 for a couple of hours! If you keep babying your daughter she will rebel and do something really bad.....and you spank a 4 year old not a 17 year old the 17 year old could spank back...

Answer 9

Are you kidding, she is almost an adult. i would have been totally and completely humiliated if i had to be babysat at 17. I cant stress how utterly humiliated I would feel. If your worried about her getting into things like your alchohol or something, make her go to a friends house or send her to a favorite relatives house and tell her why you dont want her alone, when she realizes that you dont trust her she may try to straighten out. But if you just dont think shes old enough, then i really dont know what your going to do when she wants to LIVE alone next year when she turns 18...

Answer 10

A babysitter? She definitely seems old enough to be left alone. Most babysitters are around the age of 17, so I don't think calling one would be very beneficial.