COLUMNIST and trained counsellor Fiona Caine answers another set of reader dilemmas.

MY PARENTS DON'T LIKE MY OLDER BOYFRIEND

I am 17 and live at home with my parents. My boyfriend is 22 and he and I have been going out together for more than two years now, and we're very happy with each other. My parents, though, have never made a secret of the fact they don't like him - and for no apparent reason other than the age gap between us.

READ MORE: Help! I'm attracted to an old uni friend

They refuse to let him visit me at their house, other than to pick me up if we're going out. However, I know he is right for me and I love him, and I think he feels the same way about me.

At the moment, he lives at home with his parents too, but he's trying to find a flat to rent. I plan to ask if I can move in with him.

I am sure my parents will be angry about this. How do I break the news to them, without them going ballistic?

FIONA SAYS: HAVE YOU AND YOUR BOYFRIEND ACTUALLY TALKED?

There's a lot of uncertainty in these plans of yours, and from what you've written, I'm not at all convinced that you've even discussed them with your boyfriend. You say you've been together for two years, but there would appear to be a lot of uncertainty about your relationship too. It might well be that this is what is worrying your parents.

Be cautious. There's no point in raising this possibly contentious issue with your parents, unless it's a realistic possibility.

Bournemouth Echo:

MY DAUGHTER IS SEEING MY BOSS'S BROTHER - BUT I KNOW HE'S A WASTE OF SPACE

I am so worried about my daughter and nothing I say or do will get her to listen to me. She's 21 now and she's been going out with her boyfriend since she was 17. She just won't see that this man is not good.

She started to go out with him shortly after her 17th birthday, and I am sure it is down to him that she failed her A levels. She was so infatuated with him, she just stopped working at them, even though she was predicted to do well.

He's my boss's brother, so I know a lot about him and what's going on in his life. He's now 30 and has been married all the time he's been going out with my daughter.

He's told her he's divorced, but I know he's still living with his wife! On top of that, I know he's had several girlfriends while she's been with him.

FIONA SAYS: SHE NEEDS TO MAKE HER OWN MISTAKES

You cannot make someone see something they don't want to see, and clearly your daughter only wants to see the positives where this man is concerned. You daughter must come to recognise for herself that this man is not treating her well. It may sound perverse, but I suspect she will do it a whole lot sooner if you stop making him seem attractive to her.

You're doing that with your opposition to him, because it's in the nature of most young people to want to rebel. It is hard to watch them make their mistakes, but sometimes you have to do it because it is the only way they learn.

Get in touch with Fiona by emailing help@askfiona.net for advice on any dilemmas.