Wednesday, February 22, 2006

Not To Worry

Charlottes Webb writes:

Just when I thought I'd heard everything... my 17-year-old son confided in me a terrible secret about his father. It seems my soon to be ex took our son out to a bar (where my son was served) and both got very drunk. If that wasn't bad enough my husband then brought someone back to his place and had sex with her while my son could hear everything. Hubby then told our son "don't tell your mother, blah blah blah." This poor kid has been carrying this burden on his shoulders for at least 4 months and told me today. My question is how do I handle this. I know what I want to do, but...

Dear Charlotte’s Webb:

Maybe it’s because I’m a guy, but I really think your characterization of your son’s overhearing your ex in a sexual interlude as a “burden,” is at the very least, a stretch. Granted, your ex (who sounds a lot like Danny Bonaduce) clearly used terrible judgment not only for that, but also for allowing your son to get drunk right along with him. However, if your son is a typical teen, he’s probably seen--not simply just heard--far more explicit stuff while watching MTV or playing the latest video game version of “Grand Theft Auto." In other words, if you’re worrying about him suffering any kind of permanent psychological scarring over this, you needn’t, he’s going to be just fine.