DEAR ABBY: My daughter, "Megan," asked "Adam," the boy down the street, to a dance. They are both 14 years old. They went and had a good time. Over the next few weeks, Megan and Adam saw each other a couple of times, always in supervised situations.
Adam has two younger sisters, 7 and 2 years old. Megan has been their baby sitter on occasion. After my daughter and Adam had seen each other several times, Adam's mother again asked Megan to baby-sit.
When Megan got to their house, she found that Adam was going to be there all evening, too. Knowing I would not approve of her being alone with Adam, Megan phoned me. I walked down to find out exactly what Adam's plans for the evening were. He said he wasn't going anywhere, but I could trust him. I told him it wasn't a matter of trust, but Megan wasn't allowed to stay with a boy unchaperoned. I decided to stay until Adam's mother got home.
Now everyone is calling me "overprotective." What do you think? -- PROTECTIVE MOM
DEAR PROTECTIVE MOM: It would seem that Adam is old enough to baby-sit for his own sisters, since he is the same age as your daughter. However, since Adam's mother preferred to have Megan care for the children, she should have let you know that Adam would be there also. You and Megan would then have had an opportunity to discuss how to handle the situation.
Since you did not have all the information up front, there was no harm in your staying with your daughter until the mother returned.