A woman shared how she is struggling with her husband’s relationship with their teenage daughter who dresses very revealingly around the house.
Here is the story
My husband’s relationship with our teen daughter is making me struggle
My husband and I have a strong marriage, but lately, he’s been struggling with his relationship with our daughter, and I’m not sure the best way to support him.
Our daughter is 16 and in many ways is a young woman. She’s quite pretty and is physically quite mature, and the attention she gets really makes my husband struggle. He’s not a caveman, but I believe he’s being overly protective.
He expresses concerns to me – but never to her, thankfully – about what she wears. I thought he was going to meltdown about her bikini last summer. And she tends to wear very little around the home sometimes, and I can see how he’s having issues adjusting.
I know this is an age-old problem, so input is welcome.
Netizens’ comments
- I don’t have a daughter but my close friends do and she’s right at the age/development yours is and the advice they gave me stuck. Just let them grow. They raised her to know what’s appropriate to wear at different places (church, funerals, school, etc) and they had to let go and put trust in the fact that they raised her well, she has firm, strong boundaries, and she will try fashion styles and find what she likes. She can do that in the safety of her home, instead of sneaking around. It stuck very much with me. I know it’s hard.
- I’m glad your husband has the decency to keep his thoughts between the 2 of you and not make your daughter feel ashamed for having a body. I get the urge to protect from parents, but this is just something he’s going to have to live with. Telling her to cover up will go 1 of 2 ways: make her hyper aware of her body which can lead to poor body image (which is obviously no good) or to her rebelling by wearing MORE revealing clothing. Either way, your husband likely wouldn’t be happy with the result. All you can do is remind him that she’s a safe and happy child and that he’s doing the best he can to support her how SHE wants to be supported