Falling Out With Friends, Age Gap Guilt & Sex Positive Teens

This week in the Dear Clementine inbox:

• I wanted to know if you had advice for handling the feelings and (internal) fallout when you have disagreements or tiffs with friends. I pride myself on being a good, caring, loyal friend but hey - sometimes I do insensitive or thoughtless things. My close friends and I talk about things when we mess up, we make an effort to understand each other, and I know we love each other - but I can’t help feeling like a failure, like I’m less-than or not as-good as them when I do or say something I'm not proud of.
• I am a 39 year old woman in a relationship with a man 5 years younger than me. He’s amazing (supportive, caring, empowering) and I’m really happy in the relationship. I can’t however shake this sense of feeling sorry for him because I am older than him, and that therefore I am holding him back or he is worse off somehow because he could instead be with someone younger and therefore more worthy or appealing. How do I shake these feelings of inadequacy and allow myself to embrace the relationship without this anxiety getting in the way?
• I have two teenage daughters, 15 and 17 years old. We were recently talking about sex and the subject of vibrators came up. My youngest asked if I owned one and if I would ever get her or her sister one. Usually I would not disclose this information about myself but instead chose too. She was not surprised and an open conversation followed. What I’m asking is do you think it is ok for me to purchase a toy to assist them with self-pleasure? Is there a right or wrong age to do this?

If you have a question for Clementine, send her an email at dearclementine@novapodcasts.com.au

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