For about a year, my son had been living with Kate, but we’d never met her parents – it struck me as odd, so I decided to investigate I’ve always tried to raise my son to respect women first and foremost – his grandmother, his mother, his wife, his daughter. In my opinion, that’s the greatest quality a man can have: respect for women. My husband and I gave our son a wonderful upbringing and education and made sure he had everything he needed to get through life with ease. We didn’t want to help him with anything else, but we still bought him a two-bedroom flat. He did work to support himself, but he couldn’t quite afford a place of his own. We didn’t give him the flat right away, in fact, we didn’t even tell him we’d bought it. And why? Because our son was living with his girlfriend – that’s why. For about a year, he’d been living with Kate, but we’d never met her parents and I always found that strange. Later, I discovered that Kate’s mum used to be a neighbour of one of my friends. She told me something that really unsettled me. It turned out, Kate’s mother threw her husband out when he started earning less, but the real madness started after… She began seeing a married – but wealthy – man. Kate’s grandmother, just like her daughter, also had a relationship with a married man. She would even force both her daughter and granddaughter to trek out to his country house to help on his farm. Because of this, my son already found himself tangled up in his future mother-in-law’s affairs. But what concerns me most is that Kate’s mother and grandmother are turning her against her father. It’s clear the girl cares for her dad, but these two women have put her relationship with him in jeopardy. And to top it all off, Kate has decided to drop out of university. She believes it’s a man’s job to look after the family. I agree to some extent, and I raised my son for that, but heaven forbid they face any real life problems. What sort of safety net will there be if something goes wrong? How would she support her husband if that happened? By the way, I’ve put the flat back in my own name, because I know I’ve raised a bit of a soft touch, as we say. Yes, property bought before marriage isn’t divided after a divorce, but Kate is such a clever woman, she could very well send my “gentleman” packing with nothing but his socks.

So, listen, for about a year now my sons been living with this girl, Emily, but wed never met her parents, which I thought was a bit odd. Eventually, I decided I needed to find out what was going on.

You know me, Ive always tried to bring my son up to show proper respect for womenhis gran, me, his wife, his daughter, everyone. I honestly think thats the most valuable quality a man can have, respect for women. My husband and I gave him a good upbringing, proper schooling, the whole lot. We tried to make sure he had everything he needed, so he never had to struggle. We werent planning on handing him everything on a silver platter, but we did end up buying him a nice little two-bedroom flat. He works full time and looks after himself, but lets be honest, propertys expensive in England and theres no way he couldve managed to buy a place on his own.

We didnt hand the flat over straight away thoughin fact, we didnt even tell him about it at first. Reason being, he was living with Emily. Nearly a year theyd been together, but still, we hadnt even so much as met her parents. It just felt off to me.

So heres where things got interesting. Turned out, a friend of mine actually used to live on the same street as Emilys mum. She told me a few things that really made me feel uneasy. Apparently, Emilys mum kicked her husband out when he lost his job and wasnt bringing in enough money. But that was only the start. Then she started seeing some wealthy blokeproblem was, he was already married. And apparently, Emilys gran was much the same. Shed also had a relationship with a married man, and even made her daughter and granddaughter go and help out at his country house on weekends, quite hands on with the chickens and all that.

Because of all this, my son had ended up pretty friendly with his mother-in-law already, more than youd expect. But what really gets me is how Emilys mum and gran have turned her against her own dad.

You can tell Emily still cares a lot about her father, but with her mum and gran always in her ear, its putting real strain on that relationship. And to top it all off, Emilys decided to quit uni. She reckons its a mans job to provide for the family. Dont get me wrong, Ive brought my son up to be a provider, too, but you just never know what lifes going to throw at you, do you? Wheres the safety net if things go wrong? Hows she going to help him if he needs her?

Anyway, thats why Ive switched the flat back over into my name, as they say, better safe than sorry. I know my sons a real softiebless him. And sure, anything he owns before marriage stays his if they ever split, but Emilys such a clever one, I can practically see her letting him walk out the door with nothing but his socks if it came to that.