Younger men are great. We love younger men.

However, we have discovered a potential problem with them. Even if you're from the "age ain't nuthin' but a number" school, dating a younger man inevitably unearths a sort of vixen-teacher duality-complex thing. (Trust us.)

This isn't entirely a bad thing. But it's something we think you should be aware of.

The complex creeps up on you so you probably won't notice it at first. The first stage usually involves terms of endearment such as "baby," "sweetie" and the like. You'll find yourself using such pet names with a little laugh intended to convey, "Oh aren't you just the most precious thing!" A little condescending, yes, and that's regrettable, but so it goes.

Stage two: Sooner or later, your attention will turn to his appearance. Your interest won't really be to change him – at least not entirely. He looked good enough on his own to get your attention, after all. But you will want to tweak him a bit.

If he's the clean-cut type, you'll try to talk him into a tattoo or maybe a piercing. If he's already inked up, you'll try to get him in a tie, and then a long-sleeved shirt with a collar to go with it.

When your thing gets physical, that's when you move into stage three – when the vixen and the teacher converge. You embrace your inner Mrs. Robinson. (A reference that might be lost on a 21-year-old.)

You notice yourself going out of your way to make even the most mundane make-out session into, well, something we can't mention in a family publication. But you get the idea.

A word of caution, though, on the vixen-teacher complex. Your young man might surprise you. While you were out in the world adding to your bag of tricks, he was putting together a bag of his own in high school.

His bag's probably made of things he's seen and/or read from magazines and/or videos he keeps in some sort of locked trunk under his bed. At his mom's house.

You don't want to know what's in Bridgette's trunk. E-mail her at brwilliams@quickdfw.com.