It's never easy parenting teenagers, especially if and when they begin heading out on those first few awkward dates.
For one single father, who has been caring for his daughter, Victoria, on his own since her mother walked out 11 years ago, this particular area has proven somewhat difficult.
Now 14, Victoria is said to be a "great kid" who makes him "a proud dad." However, they have butted heads in recent times over typical grievances such as clothes and school grades.
Dating, in particular, has been tricky to navigate, and the protective dad will always ask Victoria to introduce her to any dates before they head out.
Unfortunately, one boy recently refused to abide by this rule, and so he asked Victoria to call off their date altogether. Now the father and daughter are somewhat at odds, and he's in desperate need of some words of wisdom.
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Taking to Reddit, the conflicted dad - who goes by the username u/Main_Hippo_6627 - wrote: "Unfortunately, she's interested in boys now, and they're interested in here, God, if you're listening, send help.
"Normally, when she says that she has a date, I'm fine. I meet the kid, they go on their way, that's kind of my rule. I don't do some goofy 'If you don't have my daughter home at 9:00 on the nose, I'm coming hunting for you' big scary dad speech. I wanna just meet the kid so I can put a face to a name.
A few days ago, she said a guy named 'Vince' asked her out, fine. Well, Friday night came and I get told from Victoria that oh, he's 'not good at talking to parents' and 'doesn't like to do it'."
He continued: "Sarcastically I said that I loved hearing that and that I was at ease hearing that this guy actively avoids parents. She's got a Ph.D. in my sarcasm so I received an eye roll.
"I said he could use tonight as practice for talking to parents. She said that he doesn't have to do anything he doesn't want to. I said if he's not meeting me, she's not going on the date. I got a foot stomp and a 'that's not fair'. I told her I wasn't being overbearing, I just wanted to meet this kid."
Victoria didn't take this well at all, telling her dad "she was going to do what she wanted." He then instructed her to text Vince to tell him the date was off, and go to her room.
She did so, but not without a fair bit of tears and door slamming, and the declaration that she "hated" her father. Now he's wondering whether he might have been too harsh.
However, a number of fellow Reddit users have applauded his parenting skills, with one person saying they were "grateful" there were dads like him around.
One person wrote: "If the guy doesn't want to meet you, that sucks for him. He's apparently old enough to come to pick her up and take her out, so he should be old enough to introduce himself and hurry out the door.
"It's suspicious and makes you wonder if he's older or if he's hiding something a parent could spot but a teenager would overlook."
Another commented: "I have gone through TWO daughters and their teenage years. God won’t help you…you will lose your mind lol. In all honesty, it sounds like she was trying to 'get away with something'.
"So you did right sticking to your rule. You already seem pretty relaxed about dating and her going out, so you’re not asking too much. I wish you luck sir, you’re in trying times!"
Have you found yourself navigating a tricky parenting situation? Email us at julia.banim@reachplc.com
