To date? Or not to date?

The entire family process begins long before you say "I do". It begins with the act of.... dating. Many, many, many people are interested in and active in this stage of their lives. Sadly, it has become a common trend to do it incorrectly.

There are several important keys to a date. First, it is planned. All too often girls and boys meet up for their lovely evening together, and spend it looking at each other awkwardly saying, "What do you wanna do? I dunno, what do you wanna do?". But this does not mean the date has to be some lavish event with hours and hours of preparation beforehand either. I remember boys in high school asking out girls for prom by decorating car, rooms, and just about everything else. That was the expectation placed on them, and in return the girls were suppose to answer in an equally elaborate way. I did not find this out until after I had already accepted a date, and learned that a simple answer by phone was disappointing and not expected.

To plan a date means to make it known when you shall meet and how, what you are doing, how you should dress, and when you will return home. There should even be a Plan B prepared in case something goes wrong with the original date. By planning correctly, you show the other person that you are prepared and can be relied on.

The next step in a date is that it is Paid For. This does not mean the date has to cost any money. A date can be as simple as going for a walk in the park or throwing around a frisbee and trying desperately not to be smacked in the face with it. But if the date does cost anything I believe the person who did the asking should pay.

Lastly, during the date you should be Paired Off. Group dates are wonderful things, however the focus should be on your date.

So why is dating so important in the world today? For one thing, in dating you create relationships with other people. You develop commitment, communication, your ability to interact, and (if something goes wrong) the ability to change and be okay with changing. With different dates with the same person you get to see each other from different circumstances. And this is highly important if you are in the stage of you life where you are looking for a spouse. You want someone that won't buckle under pressure, that upholds morals and standards, that can be responsible and provide and be attentive.

So, since this was a post about dating, here are some ideas for dates that I have come up with: Walks, mini-gold, hiking, picnics, playing with sidewalk chalk, making each other ice cream sundaes, museums, concerts, racquetball, tandem bicycling, frisbee, country western dancing, water balloon games, skittle bowling, and picture tag.

1. Image: http://throwthestarfishback.blogspot.com/