A woman has been left in a difficult predicament after lying to her parents about her boyfriend's age - as they now want to meet him. The 18-year-old says she has been dating a 40-year-old man for the past few months, but she avoided telling her parents the truth as she's in a long-distance relationship.
Now, her mum wants to meet the special guy in her life, and the teenager is at a loss as to what to do. She says her options include coming clean, or tricking her family with a "fake boyfriend" - and she is considering hiring someone to help with her scheme.
Thankfully, Reddit users were quick to offer supportive advice to the concerned teen, when she took to the website asking for advice. Writing on a forum dedicated to age gap relationships, she explained: "We met online and he lives a couple states away. So we are long distance rn. I visited him for a week, a month ago and the relationship has gotten pretty serious.
"I lied about the trip to my parents, telling them it was just a personal trip. I still live with my parents and rely on them heavily. I'm planning on visiting the guy again in a couple months, so I had to give my parents some reason why I want to take another trip. So I told my parents about him, but I lied about his age, saying he is 22 and I showed them a picture of some random guy."
Her post continued: "The other day, mom [sic] brought up how we could all visit him so that they could meet him. So, I don't know what to do. I think I can hold off on them meeting him for this next trip I wanna [sic] take, but what about after that?"
"Should I just confess that I lied and tell the truth?" she questioned. "I don't know what exactly they'd do or say, but I'm guessing it wouldn't be good. My other idea is hiring an actor who poses as my fake boyfriend, but that seems a little crazy. What should I do?"
In response, commenters were quick to offer suggestions. Many advised the woman she should have an honest conversation with her parents. One reply read: "I would sit down and have an adult conversation about it. Ask them to be open minded and allow you to say your thoughts before they chime in.
"Tell them that you had lied about the guy and his age and how he looks. You can show his picture if you want to but I have a feeling they’ll want to see what he looks like. And also tell them why you had lied about the guy and his age and all of that. And go from there."
Another said: "Don't dig yourself any more holes. You're an adult, be honest with your parents. They’ll either get it or they won't."
Meanwhile, other commenters were quick to debate the age gap in the relationship. One person thought: "This sounds like you're not ready for an adult relationship. you're acting like a teenager (which you still are mind you) and you've dug a pretty big hole for yourself as far as deception."
Someone else agreed: "Based on how you went about this whole thing, you sound too immature for an agr [age gap relationship]."
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