~Advice Column~ Dear Weggie the Wise,

Dear Weggie the Wise,

I like a guy at my school and he seems to like me, too. We do a lot of things together. Unfortunately, whenever we go somewhere, he doesn’t have much money so I have to pay for his Starbucks or McDonald’s. He said his parents don’t give him much of an allowance. I don’t mean to complain, but I don’t get much allowance, either. How can I get him to pay his fair share? – Poor in Pendik

Dear Poor in Pendik,

Well it appears that you both like each other and like to spend time with each other, and are hoping to progress into a relationship. However, the monetary issues need to be dealt with. I am much opposed to his actions of mooching off you for money. If he truly likes you, he should be paying for you when you go out to these "dates". A guy is supposed to be the chivalrous one and pay for the lady he is accompanied by. You should not tolerate this behavior. There are a few options to try to remedy this problem. One would be that you address this problem to the guy that you are seeing and ask him to stop, plain and simple. A more subtle remedy to this problem would be to go to places that don't cost money, so there are no monetary issues. You could go on a picnic, watch a movie at someone's house, or go on a hike, etc... I would encourage you to also think up some more ways to remedy this situation you are in. Just know that what is happening is not the way it is supposed to be and the problem needs to be addressed somehow.

Dear Weggie the Wise,

I recently attended a soccer match that my children were playing in at our school. I noticed that very few parents came to the game. It made me sad that the parents seemed to care so little about their children. I am appalled by their lack of sensitivity and that of the other parents who did not accompany their children. Please tell your readers that part of the responsibility of parenthood includes being there to give your children emotional support, even if it means missing work. — Outraged in Ortakoy

Dear Outraged in Ortakoy,

I see where you are coming from in your opinions about the presence of parents at

sporting events. I would have to agree with you on this problem. I think that parents should be a good supportes of their kids and come to watch them play. I know that when i was little, my parents didn't come to many of my games and it hurt me and caused me to feel sorry for myself.  I don't think that any kid should feel unloved and neglected due to the child's parents not being there to watch them.  It is healthy for both the children and the adults to go these sporting events, because it is a good way to get out of the normal happenings of life and do something different.  I encourage you to keep up your attendance at your children's sporting events, you are a role model for society in this situation.  Maybe you could gather up a bunch of parents and make a child-support group that would go to children's games and cheer them o so they don't feel left out.  You do need to address this problem to others by encouraging them to step up their role as a parent.

Dear Wise Weggie,

My husband and I are raising four beautiful children. Our oldest daughter, age 15, has admitted to us that she has been drinking alcohol at parties on weekends. She says she never gets drunk but always has one drink because "everyone else is doing it" and she doesn't want to look "weird."

My husband and I never drink. Alcohol is not served in our home. Our daughter is an honor student and never has caused us any trouble. She says we should appreciate her honesty and not be angry with her. How should we handle this? — Beside Ourselves Buyuk Cekmece

Dear Buyuk Cekmece,

Your in a real pickle here.  You can either be angry at her and prevent her from partying and drinking at them, or you can let her drink illegally and appreciate her honesty.  My advice to you is simple, choose the first choice.  She should not be drinking at her age because she is underage, which is illegal, violating the laws.  She is also succumbing to peer pressure and drinking because "everyone else does it".  This mindset is not a healthy mindset to have, and if it isn't handled with right away when she is young, it could turn out to something much worse in the future, perhaps drugs even.  You never want this problem to escalate to that point, so my advice to you is to punish her and make her see her fault and learn from it, otherwise she'll have to learn the hard way.