Well, that's where Mac's sense of humor and my "craziness" came together.
We established a dating rule. If a boy wanted to date either of the girls, they had to go through a "3-date" process, with us! If he "survived" three dates with Mac and I, he could take our daughter out. The dates with us were usually dinner, playing cards, all easy stuff. They also had to fill out a "date questionnaire" that had some very interesting questions on it.
We had very different reactions from the boys, and although it was all fun and games, I was a tad serious. I will never forget one boy in particular. Mac always looked up the boy's record on CCAP (WI Circuit Court Access). The poor young chap had recently gotten a speeding ticket. The first few steps in the house, Mac said to him, "Can you tell me where you were on "such and such a date", which was the date of his offense. Then he made him confirm his name, birth date, and address. By this time, the kid was so red in the face, I was embarrassed for him. After admitting to us he had in fact been speeding, Mac assured him he WOULD NOT speed with our little sweet thing in the car. I'm surprised he didn't just leave after that interrogation.
I had another approach, a much more serious approach. I would explain to the lad that I had lost a son, I was very respectful and kind during this conversation. At the end of the talk, I told him that I expected nothing but safe driving while my daughter was in the car. I told him that if there was any drinking, or unsafe driving, I would hunt him down and, well, I'll leave the last part of that statement open to your imagination. The poor kids were probably so scared of me that they wanted to leave at that moment, but they didn't. I never had a problem after that talk.
Just for laughs I'll share with you some of the questions and the answers they gave. No names of course...
Do your own a van? "Yes, big one, w/seats removed from the back" (this kid had a great sense of humor, but he didn't last long).
When I first met your daughter, the first thing I noticed was her "personality".
(this one took the questionnaire very seriously, he was good, but he's the one with the speeding ticket, so I think he was scared).
Needless to say, it was a fun few years with the girls and all the boys that came and went. We never had any problems with any of them. I'm sure they all thought we were nuts, but I guess nuts is better than not caring.
Now I have Noah to deal with in a few years. Lord help the poor girl that comes into his life, he has three Moms to deal with, myself, Jess and Meg.
