[Garfie]

Originally Posted by Ammi

…but Lily doesn’t have that same experience, though…’I’m looking forward to living without a parent because I’ve never lived without a parent’ is what she said…our life experiences aren’t all the same and aren’t all one size fits all so that’s the allowances…(…for me…)…that Emma as an older woman and someone who said that she was a ‘mother figure’ would have been good to have considered….not forever if Lilys over enthusiasm was a constant thing that wore everyone down…but they’d only been in the house for a few hours and Emma was wishing a young lady bound and gagged…that to me is not understandable at all…

I understand where you are coming from, Ammi, and I generally agree with your views. My perception of these two differs greatly on this occasion though. I’m just not perceiving either of them in the same way.

For me, a maternal figure would make allowances, but within reason, and then guide someone to behave more appropriately in a social setting when they are more able to listen. Other wise it just enables young people to behave in a way which will make them unpopular. Blowing off a bit of steam in the diary room, and making a joke about it, was probably the best way for Emma to deal with it at the time, as it caused no offence or upset to Lily.

Maybe my assessment of the two and their actions comes from years of working with teenagers, rather than from a maternal perspective though. Either way, I’m thinking we’re going to need to agree to differ on this one!