Your teenage daughter announces she has a new boyfriend. Well, it's only natural for you to wonder what he's like?

One of the best ways to size up your daughter's boyfriend is to invite him to dinner. If he really cares about her, he'll be willing to spend some time with her family. Even if he's shy or nervous about meeting everyone, he'll make this extra effort to show her that what is important to her is also important to him.

Don't view this time as a scientific experiment - your dinner table is not a laboratory, and he is not a lab rat. Don't over-observe him or watch every move he makes. You'll have to remember that he's likely to be quite nervous. Put him, your daughter and everyone else at ease by having a light-hearted conversation over dinner. That's all you should expect during this, your first family meeting with him. Don't make him do all of the work, either. Ask him questions about himself, his interests in or outside of school, what television programme or music he prefers, what films he's seen lately - small talk.

Keep an eye out
Naturally, there are a few things you'll want to watch out for:

• Is he respectful to your daughter? Does he shush her or say anything that makes her squirm? If so, that's not good.
• Does he display too much affection toward your daughter? Dad won't appreciate that.
• Does he have enough sense to avoid swearing or talking about inappropriate subjects at dinner?

Whether you agree or disagree here, at least you're taking the time to talk about something that is important to her. By getting to know your daughter's boyfriend, you'll be getting to learn about your daughter from a whole other perspective.