Tell your Tita

  Our adopted daughter
is a problem

 Dear Tita,

My husband, Tony, and I couldn’t have children due to a defect in my uterus.
         
After almost six years of marriage, we decided to adopt a child. Our good friend Merla in Iloilo told us that there was a baby girl, whose teenage mother was giving up for adoption as she couldn’t afford to raise a child. We immediately went to Iloilo to meet the baby’s mother. She agreed to let us adopt her baby after we had a long talk with her. Our lawyer prepared all the necessary documents and legal steps for adoption.
         
We were so happy to have a cute baby girl as we had wanted one for a long time. Tony and I doted on our adopted child, whom we named Malu. She was the apple of everyone’s eyes. As she was growing up, she was getting a bit spoiled and my mother warned me to discipline her, or she might give us problems.
         
But we were just so glad to have our own child that I didn’t listen to my mother. Malu became difficult to handle – she would scream and cry if she didn’t have her way. We always gave in to her demands. At times, she would answer me back whenever I called her attention to something she did. When I scolded her, she would run to her room and slam the door.
         
Now that Malu is a teenager, she has become a problem. She goes out with her friends after school and doesn’t study her lessons. Her grades are very low and she is getting to be uncontrollable. Tony and I are worried because she goes out with her teenage boyfriend until late.
         
Please advise us on what to do. She doesn’t know she is adopted as we never told her.

WORRIED MOTHER

Dear Worried Mother,

You should have listened to your mother’s advise about disciplining Malu when she was still a little girl. Like a young twig that has to be straightened before it grows big, a child has to be guided early before it’s too late.
         
Malu has been spoiled all her life and she has been so used to having her way that she has become uncontrollable now that she is a teenager. You and your husband have to act now. Make her understand that she has to obey your rules or there will be consequences. She can be grounded or her allowance reduced, etc.
         
I hope for her sake that she sees the light. Good luck.

TITA

LOGBOOK: A solo art exhibition of Nunelucio Alvarado, titled “Saksak Sinagol”, will open 7 p.m. on August 8 at the Gallery Orange, Art District in Mandalagan, Bacolod City, and will run until August 31. For more details, those interested may contact the Gallery at (034) 709-0604 or email gallery.orange@yahoo.com*         

back to top