I Can't Let Her Turn Into Another Single Cat Lady
I don’t think parents are ever really ready for the first time their children participate in the dating world.
Welcome back to Good Life, a newsletter about navigating our modern culture and staying sane in the process. This week, we discuss how to know it’s time for your children to start dating.
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I Can’t Let Her Turn Into Another Single Cat Lady
Grab a cup of coffee and sit down because I have a story to tell you. My daughter asked a boy to her school’s Sadie Hawkins dance this week, and my husband and I have very different feelings about it.
I don’t think parents are ever really ready for the first time their children participate in the dating world. The Sadie Hawkins dance is like putting your tiptoes in the water to check the temperature. If I am being honest with myself, I have mixed feelings about her going, but I also understand that events like this are a right of passage that help move you into the next stage of life.
My husband is no different than most fathers who love to joke about their daughters joining the nunnery or staying spinsters. The idea of his oldest daughter diving into the world of boyfriends and dating likely feels like the death of the last of her little girl years.
It’s not that I don’t feel this way too. I want them to stay young and under my wing for as long as possible, but that’s also why I want her to experience these moments while she’s still under the safety of her parents’ command.