5 MINUTES
with DR. LAURA SCHLESSINGER
New Girlfriend Comes Between Son and Dad
Dr. Laura’s conversation with 10-year-old Samuel and his mother:
Hi, Samuel. What’s happening?
How can I help you and your mom? Samuel: So, recently life was pretty
normal between me and my dad. And then he met this woman. She has two children, they are around 15 years old and 9. I’m OK with the 9-year-old. The 15-year-old has a boyfriend that I was disturbed by.
What’s
disturbing? I was just
really used to me and my dad being together alone, with one friend of ours that we knew for a long time and he had been living with us. And I’m OK with that. I’m used to just me, my dad, and Kevin.
Who is Kevin? He used to work for my
grandma in a restaurant. Is he the same age as
your dad? No, he’s like 21.
OK, so now Dad’s got a girlfriend
who has kids and they’re around all the time too. Yep.
Sorry, nothing we can do about that. But I understand why you miss 72 NEWSMAX MAXLIFE | MAY 2025 Mom: Anger issues. Inconsistency.
how it was. It’ll never be like that again, though. That’s what happens when parents go their separate ways and just expect the kids to go along with all the decisions they make. Parents: Don’t do this stuff. You have a responsibility to your own son. He’s not responsible for the breakup. And he’s being hurt already. So Samuel, you’re getting a double
dose. You’re hurt that your parents broke up and now you’re hurt that your dad’s subdividing his time and energies with some woman and her kids. But you can’t do anything about it.
He’s not going to dump his girlfriend. Trust me, I’m good with you talking to him about it anytime.
Could I talk to
my dad about this? Sure, but
he’s not going to dump his girlfriend. Trust me, I’m good with you talking to him about it anytime. I believe we should keep
these conversations up. “Dad, I liked it better when it was you, me, and Kevin. But the girlfriend with the kids, not so much. I was wondering if we could get rid of the girlfriend with the kids and just stick with the three of us?” And he’ll say no. Sorry. Does the girlfriend live at your dad’s place? Yep.
Oh, my God. He’s shacking
up with some broad with two kids. And by the way, Mom, why
are you not together with his dad? What happened?
What does an anger issue mean?
If I’m dating somebody and they’re angry, I don’t date them. What do you mean by an anger issue? It was about young naivete and
getting caught in a cycle of not being able to say no, I guess.
I don’t understand any of that.
So, let me ask you in a different way. If you’re seeing a guy and he’s being angry and not so nice, why do you agree to the next date? There was a lot of manipulation.
I guess that at that point in my life, I didn’t recognize or understand.
OK, Your son is 10. Do you think he
can recognize meanness? He does, yes.
Well, then, you were double his age
or something like that. I think you would have been able to recognize meanness, too. I did.
But? He was good looking, he had
money, he had a lot of friends, he had a motorcycle? I mean, tell me: “I realized he was mean, but…”? Yeah, he was not there. I say it
usually as, “He made me feel the best that I ever felt and the worst that I ever felt a lot of times.”
So he would go back and forth
from being real nice to mean. If he was mean and you backed up a little bit, then he was real nice. That sucked you back in? Basically, yes.
OK, Samuel, we can’t fix your
dad, but if you can remember this conversation, and when you grow up and you’re dating a woman who’s nice one minute and bitchy the next, dump her.
Listen to Dr. Laura on SiriusXM Channel 111, Mon.–Sat. 2–6pm ET, Sun. 5–9pm ET.
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