This is a really good question that I don't have a great answer to because 1) kids in our area don't seem to "date" that much these days. They just hang out a lot. Yes, some have boyfriends, but I don't think there's a lot of asking out on dates going on, some just seem to pair off, and 2) my girls in particular just really like being in groups. Elle repelled the "boyfriend" idea and would never even consider it in high school even though I know she had a few boys try to win her favor. I think because she saw some of her friends pair off and she felt like they were missing so much of the fun high school experience by closing themselves off of it with only one person. And I think Grace has just followed suite. She loves being in groups. Maybe it's a "fear of missing out" if she just paired off with one person?
Maybe we encouraged this informally through our discussions. We do talk a LOT about friendships and dating, etc. Maybe it's just their personalities. I have friends who really struggle because their kids have paired up, some for years, and it's hard to find a balance. I think dating is healthy and helps kids figure so many things out with relationships. But it creates lots of different worries when kids get too serious at a young age and there has to be a balance so I get your question whole-heartedly.
Growing up our rule was that we could never go out with one boy more than twice in a row. I don't know if that was followed very well, since I did date two different boys for quite a long time each. But somehow I never felt like I was closed off from the rest of the social scene because my friends always seemed to come with me on our dates. Ha! Obviously we weren't overly serious, and I don't know if that was my parents input put to work or if that's just what I wanted. I can't even remember back that far!
I think the bottom line is COMMUNICATION. Open discussions early on. Talk through every situation, and help kids understand WHY you want them to date and hang out with a variety of different people. Talk through situations that could come up, even embarrassing ones. (My Dad always did this and I think because of it I was never tempted to take the steps to get into a bad situation.)
Now I'm rambling a little so I hope this makes sense, but I think it's just so important to think things through and talk them through. Not just dating but
everything. That's why I love Sunday interviews (which we're horrible at), lunch dates, late nights with only one child, road trips, Family Home Evening, and even early-morning scriptures (Dave's been going over the
Strength of Youth this week with the girls during morning devotionals and I have loved it...it's kept everyone so involved).
All these things give such a great opportunity for parents to help be on the offense rather than trying to deal with things after they happen. And builds good relationships in the process.
This is something I'm always working on.
Ok, and then quickly...I got this comment:
I use Feedly to get all of the blogs I read (as well as new videos from Youtube channels I subscribe to) and I haven't had this problem. However, I got the 6 most recent blog posts all at once today.
Whoops, that wasn't the original question, not sure where it went, but I've had a few people mention they've had trouble making comments and also that posts aren't showing up in their email box any more. I'm not sure how to remedy this, if anyone knows please let me know how to fix that little issue.
Happy Weekend!!