Trust....

Ok, my youngest is almost 17. I've trusted her enough to allow her to go out with friends to movies, out to eat, etc. Last night i get the feeling she went to a club instead of out to eat and a movie with friends which is what she told us.....How to find out the truth without being accusatory? How to approach without breaking that trust? And today she was out all afternoon and not answering her phone....i've grounded her for that. Growing up in my family, my sisters and i were NEVER allowed to go anywhere. Not even to a sleepover NEXT Door. My parents were unfamiliar with this American custom of slumber parties and didn't trust us out of their sight...or as my mom explained it, it's not that they didn't trust us, they didn't trust what might happen or other people. Regardless if they had been our neighbors for years...i didn't want my kids to grow up suffocated and gave them the freedom to experience much more than my sisters and i ever did. They were in scouts, went to sleepaway camp, slumber parties, even went on school trips (band, etc.). I think i did well in not giving them too much freedom, but definitely more than we had. The older ones (now 24 and 21) did good and have not become "a statistic" (i.e. high school dropouts, teenage pregnancy, single parenthood). Both have graduated high school, are still single and attending college, one has a full time job, the other part time....both on the road to becoming mature and hopefully well rounded individuals. And at 46 i've yet to become a grandmother and that's fine by me. They have plenty of time for these responsibilities. Back to this youngest child....she will be a senior in high school this year, we'll have to buckle down to keep her on the straight and narrow.....I pray for strength to say no and stick to it and for all our teachings to come to her mind when we are not around her....