I have been dating my girlfriend for two years. When we first me, we were probably around the same maturity level, or me a bit less, truthfully. I was a fairly immature kid. I grew up, and to me, it feels as if she didn't. She has a bit, in some areas. She has much better spelling skills, that's for sure. But sometimes, when I'm around her, I really want to tell her she needs to start growing up.

I'm one of those people who thinks about the future and know what I plan to do. I'm working to get my doctorate in psychology someday (it will be some years from now) to be a clinical psychologist. She switches what she wants to do all the time, which I don't mind at all. Sometimes she wants to work at an amusement park, sometimes as a photographer, other times as an actress or a hairdresser. I have no problem with her doing anything she wants with her life. If she wanted to stay at home all day, that would be fine with me too.

It's just sometimes it worries me that she never will grow up. She dyes her hair wild colors from teal to pink. When I met her, her hair was black and was for a while. Six months after we started dating was when the wild hair started, which I don't mind--we are still young enough to do stuff like that. Yet when we talk about the future, she's says maybe she will work at Hot Topics, just so she can keep her hair.

Now you might say I am a hypocrite, as my hair is always slicked back on one side and long on the other, so I can wear it down when I sing in concerts. However, when my hair is down, it looks nice, and formal. It's how I know in a few years I will be wearing my hair.

She doesn't want to grow up it seems. She is content to stay a teen all of her life. I can't say I'm in a hurry to grow up, but I also know that I need to.

We all have our quirky phases. What you have to decide is whether you're going to be able to put up with them, and whether you can put up with the different ones that may come up in the future.

X Dani