no you are not being unreasonable! kids these days!
I remember when I was in year 9...about 14 and I was asked out and my mum hit the roof, consulted the family and came back and said no I was too young! Unless you want to chaperone! now there's a fun word that I dont even know if I've spelt correctly

all I can say is thank god I've got 13 years to reach that decision

i can offer to chapperone if needed and there will be no funny business beyond the years. Some out there are not worth being near, so cautious at first till shes mmm 21.

sweater looks good though

No you are not being unreasonable. I have a 13 year old and she can't date until she's 16...much to her chagrin. She does have a boyfriend (if you could call it that) but they are only allowed to go somewhere with parents present.

Dating?? I don't know. My dad wouldn't let me farther out into the water at the beach than my ankles even when I was 18!!! So glad the fluffy Angora jumper worked out well and Fifi is started!!! How exciting!!
I live Twinkie. How cute is she like a big ball of fluff and then lying out to her fullest extent!! She's a card!!! (OK now I sound 100!!)

I think 14 is way too young - she should stay a little girl as long as possible. There's plenty of time to be a "grown up"!

Twinkie is so cute :)

My mother offered a compromise to me when I was that age. I could date with a parent chaperone or I could go on group event. A group being defined as atleast 7 kids or more.

I can't wait to see the finished sweater dry and blocked!

My mother offered a compromise to me when I was that age. I could date with a parent chaperone or I could go on group event. A group being defined as atleast 7 kids or more.

I can't wait to see the finished sweater dry and blocked!

No a 14 year old should not be dating!! Group events only until 16 is the rule around here. Feel free to quote me as a "child development specialist". (Sounds cooler than pediatrician! :)

I heart your new sweater!

No you are not! Encourage her to do things with friends and allow boys to be in the picture, but one on one is not necessary at 14. She has a long life to be one on one with someone, the time now is for growing up and having friends of all sorts.

Love that Twinkie!!

Absolutely not! I don't think dating should really begin (one on one, not group things) until the age of 16. Boy, my kid's going to have fun, isn't he? Of course, at the moment, it's more "Get out of the trashcan!" and "Don't eat the cat!" Driving and dating are a good 15 years in the future.

Boys and girls can wait until they're 16 to start dating, IMO.

My cat does the same thing when I mop the floor. LOL Silly animals!

The weather does change quickly doesn't it? As for the dating question, we didn't have a set age for our daughter or son. We approved dates on an individual basis. It usually depended on the event (if it was chaperoned), who they were going with, things like that. This worked well for us. Other parents set the dating age at 16. A lot depends on your child's maturity. We were careful not to expose our children to situations that they were not ready to handle.

This is why I have fuzzy children, Fiona Bun never asks if she can date, only if she can have a second bite of banana...

Oh, oh, no dating till 16. My niece is 18 and I wish we could stop her now. She's on boyfriend 3 who is not an improvement over 1 or 2.

Can't wait to see the sweater out of the water.

I came from a household of no dating AT ALL. So when I had my first boyfriend at 15, I had to hide it. Liking boys and going out on a date are soooo different! 16 is a good age to start dating I think.

sweater in the bath looks nice - can't wait to see after blocking! hmmm, you just reminded me my floors need a good scrubbing, along with de-cluttering of the dungeon. about the dating - group dating is ok i think, as long as you know the people she's out with, and hopefully, they're all too young to drive, so the places they go are limited to movies, mall, etc. the other kind of dating (in pairs), i would reserve til at least 16....

I have four daughters, now aged 29 - 28. Our policy was always group events only until age 16. Our kid would be dropped off and picked up by a parent for the group event - no driving with inexperienced drivers. After sixteen, dating was allowed but she had to bring the boy home and introduce him to us. For what it's worth, they each had a boyfriend at sixteen and then announced that high school boys were totally uninteresting and stopped dating until college. The exact form of the announcement varied from "there are no interesting boys in this town" to "I don't like boys, I like men. I'm not old enough to date a man and I'm not going to date until I am."

Yay Twinkie photos! I love the picture where she's all spread out-she's thinking, finally! They moved stuff so I can really relax!

I am so glad the sweater finally behaved.

Dating....... I haven't figured out how to deal with that one yet..... Will fudge with whatever rules I make up as we go along ;p

I have to say I like the idea of being able to say group activities only........ everyone in blogland says so ;p

goodness, i remember being 14. i was allowed to date.. tentatively. but things were different then. in a 5 month 'relationship' we went to the movies once, drove my parents nuts by staying on the phone til all hours and (eventually) held hands.. once. so it was hardly an affair to remember. we avoided each other at school for chrissakes!
it comes down to the kids in question. and unfortunately, at some point, you have to give them enough credit that they can take care of themselves. either that or they get all "you dont trust me!!" and take their lives into their own hands anyway.

the sweater looks fabulous by the way!

Don't know about the dating question - I grew up in a small country town so there was nowhere to go anyway!! We did lots of group stuff, I guess I started seeing boys "properly" when I was 16, which seems to be the general consensus!

Congrats on finishing Angora supreme - how good does it feel to finish something and be able to start something new without a little pang of the guilts!!

Depends on what the "date" entails. My 13-(in November)-year-old was asked out by a Year 8 boy (she's Year 7). They went to the movies on Saturday morning. They were both dropped off by their respective mum (who then had a nice little chat together) and picked up when the movie finished. I'm not ready for the whole dating routine - I've enough to worry about!

Em sounds like a very sensible girl, and at her age there won't be cars involved. That's the scary part - once the kids start to drive. I'm not sure I'd be happy with blue light dances yet - I've heard too many stories! Gads, it gets harder as they get older!!

I certainly wouldn't allow dating until my daughter was old enough to be sensible about things. I live in a small town so there's not much they can do, which beggers the question, what will they get up to? I'd have to meet the date too and suss him out for myself.

Love that sweater, and the bunny!

Depends on what the date means,is it just a friend wanting a pal to go to the movies and being cool with the "date" word?
Really let her be a child for abit longer,its a big scary world out there..
Having only boys,I refuse the date bit until at least 16,my oldest was 15 when he got serious or thought he was,he found he like his own time to himself, lesson learnt,other boys will wait,besideswhen they start to bring home dates,your house is not your own......if you get what I mean,I think I sound confused?

PS Love that Twinkie!!

Glad that you fixed the Angora - looking good. You are not unreasonable as I am a mother to 2 girls, 12 & 15 & I won't dream of letting them date now.

I suppose that is a good reason to have a boy?

Congratulations on the finished jumper-can't wait to see it dry and modelled. And what a cute pic of Twinkie-nice and relaxed. I don't want to think about the teenage years......my daughter just turned 9.

Beautiful sweater. Can't wait to see it on. Beautiful bunny too. I've been curious about bunnies in the house. They use litter box or toilet area like cats I assume? She is lovely for sure. Does she shed? It is so hard to be a parent. I think I agree with Wool Winder. Each child is individual and you have to decide based on prior choices the child has made, maturity, etc. What is the activity, school dance, school game, hanging at the mall, etc? Lots of communication is the key. And taking it slow I think. I have an 18 year old and I gave a little at a time and think it worked out better. I was afraid if I said you can date at 16 all hell would break loose all at once, you know??

Cutest bunny ever! I don't think you're being unreasonable about the dating thing. School dances and hanging out with friends in packs should suffice for a couple more years, right? But I think the main thing is not dating OLDER GUYS. Any guy interested in a 14-year-old girl who is pretty much the same age himself is bad news.

Ooh dating for girls. Maybe I would wait a year or so, or perhaps you could be a chaperone. I know I definately would be with my daughter.

Why is it that every time I visit your blog I find another project I want? Your "Fifi" shall be fabulous in those colours.

Oh, and to dating: no, and nail the window shut. Just in case. One day soon, the 14 year old will be a 16 year old. Get in early...

Not at all unreasonable. You stick to your guns, it is worth it. My girls are now both grateful I didn't let them get away with some of the stuff they tried on. People seem to think going grey has something to do with age...it doesn't. It's teenagers that turn your hair grey!! (g)
Can't wait to see the blue jumper finished and I have to say that rabbit is too cute for it's own good. :o)

Don't get me started on teenager daughters... mine was dating from an early age, and had an 18 year old boyfriend when she was 14! Argh. Although we weren't happy about it, we knew she would only go behind our backs if we 'banned' the boyfriend. But she has ADHD and is a whole impulsive bunch of difficult behaviours, which involve many different parenting choices than for non-ADHD kids.

That bunny is too cute for her own good! And congrats on the angora sweater being done :D

Wool Winder pretty much summed up how I feel about the dating thing. I'll tell you from experience that you might want to avoid pulling the reins too tight.

Can't wait to see Angora all blocked and done - I love the little cables you've used. Re the dating, I think it depends on the children involved and the event. I remember going to a couple of films with a boy when I was 14, but my parents had both met him and I'd known him a long time.

Delurking to say:

1. LURVE your sweater!
2. And dating....ha! My parents would hit the roof. My younger bro is 20 and they're going completely ballistic with his antics. But then again...I'm Asian...it's like that on this side of the world.
3. Can I like borrow that fluffy love-ball of a bunny you've got? Please? Pretty please? She's the cutest thing I've ever seen!