Source: www.dailymail.co.uk
A friend of mine came to stay recently. Long divorced and extremely attractive, Paula hadn't seen my 17-year-old son for two years. When she spotted him, her eyes lit up.
'Darling,' she purred, prodding him like the witch from Hansel and Gretel. 'Look at you. Gorgeous shoulders. Are you spoken for?'
My insides turned to ice. When had my son turned from a Pokemon-obsessed little urchin into potential fodder for my notoriously predatory friend?
The Mrs Robinson effect: Veronica Henry with her 17-year-old son Jake, whom her girlfriends have started flirting with
My instinct was to snarl 'Back off!' Was it an over-reaction? Boys are supposed to be able to look after themselves, after all.
But let's turn the tables, and imagine my husband salivating over someone's 16-year-old daughter - 'Fantastic breasts, sweetheart. Have you got a boyfriend?'
It would be socially unacceptable. There would be an outraged father on the doorstep before you could say 'sexual assault'.
My son handled Paula magnificently. With great aplomb, in fact, chatting easily, topping up her wine, laughing at her jokes. I sat at the table with gritted teeth, until it suddenly dawned on me - he didn't fancy her. He was humouring her.
He escorted her gallantly to the spare bedroom as she tottered unsteadily on her spiky heels. 'Come on, let's get you into bed,' he said, with the world-weary air of a junior doctor dealing with an unruly patient.
A friend of mine came to stay recently. Long divorced and extremely attractive, Paula hadn't seen my 17-year-old son for two years. When she spotted him, her eyes lit up.
'Darling,' she purred, prodding him like the witch from Hansel and Gretel. 'Look at you. Gorgeous shoulders. Are you spoken for?'
My insides turned to ice. When had my son turned from a Pokemon-obsessed little urchin into potential fodder for my notoriously predatory friend?
The Mrs Robinson effect: Veronica Henry with her 17-year-old son Jake, whom her girlfriends have started flirting with
My instinct was to snarl 'Back off!' Was it an over-reaction? Boys are supposed to be able to look after themselves, after all.
But let's turn the tables, and imagine my husband salivating over someone's 16-year-old daughter - 'Fantastic breasts, sweetheart. Have you got a boyfriend?'
It would be socially unacceptable. There would be an outraged father on the doorstep before you could say 'sexual assault'.
My son handled Paula magnificently. With great aplomb, in fact, chatting easily, topping up her wine, laughing at her jokes. I sat at the table with gritted teeth, until it suddenly dawned on me - he didn't fancy her. He was humouring her.
He escorted her gallantly to the spare bedroom as she tottered unsteadily on her spiky heels. 'Come on, let's get you into bed,' he said, with the world-weary air of a junior doctor dealing with an unruly patient.
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