Next Date

My son hasn't changed his dating choices as often as my daughter has, but he does move on fairly quickly. When he is pursuing a girl, he claims that they are just friends. Once it seems to move into the more than friends stage, he will say that she is his girlfriend. He has gone on a few dates--being dropped off somewhere and meeting girls there. A few weeks later, he will say that they broke up. A bit of time passes, and the process starts again. It seems that the pre-driving stage affects a teen's dating life. Until they are free to drive themselves and a date somewhere, their dating life is quite limited. For now, it seems to manifest itself through phone calls and internet communication, seeing each other at school or other places, and occasional drop-off dates. In the future, it will move into a different stage--I think that "car dating" in and of itself can encourage teens to date more often and date more people. When it is easier to go on dates, I think they like to exercise that option as much as possible. I imagine that I will see a different dating pattern next year once my son is driving--he may spend some time "playing the field" and not have just one girlfriend for an extended period of time. I know that teenagers sometimes do fall in love and get serious--I hope my teens wait a while before hitting that stage. If they could just see the advantage of casual dating and having fun, I think they would enjoy the light-heartedness of it for a while. Teens going on dates can be fun--it doesn't have to get serious. This advice is coming from someone who married her high school sweetheart, so I did not practice what I am preaching--maybe they will listen to me, or maybe they won't. But I have to be honest--I would have enjoyed my teen years more if I hadn't jumped into a serious relationship at such a young age. I hope my teens will do the opposite--relax, have fun, date around, and don't get serious too soon. You are only young once--enjoy while you can and don't grow up too fast! :)