Preparing Your Kids for Dating
The dating years can be a stressful time for any parent. How do you protect your kids and help them make good decisions? Don’t worry, before you start panicking, read our tips to make sure your kids are prepared for romance – and that you are, too!
- Set a Good Example. Whether you realize it or not, your children will treat the opposite sex the same way you treat your wife/the mother of your children. Make an effort to treat other women with respect; your son will learn how women should be treated, and your daughter will learn what standards she should have in her relationship with other men.
- Talk To Your Children. While it’s important, a good example is not enough. It’s essential that you purposely talk to your children. The easiest way is to explain simple acts of kindness or love. “I’m doing this for your mother because it’s important to her, and I want to respect her.”
There are many tools to help you spark conversation with your children. Our Boyz 2 Dads™ CD-ROM is aimed at helping parents talk to their kids about peer pressure, sex, and dating. Check our Amazon store for some great books to help you navigate these tough conversations.
- Date Your Daughter. Talking to a teenage girl can be especially difficult. Spend one-on-one time with her, and take her out for dinner, shopping trips, and other activities she enjoys. She’ll love the attention and time alone with you (even if she doesn’t show that at first) and it will give you a more natural setting to chat with her about these topics.
- Be Involved In Their Dating Life. Make sure to set proper, age-appropriate boundaries with your children for dating, and make an effort to meet their dates! Set rules early, and keep to them, adjusting these rules as you children get older. Group dates, and dates where you pick them up/drop them off are great ways to maintain boundaries for your dating kids.
We didn’t say that any of this would be easy, or that your children will be happy with every rule you set down, but boundaries and purposeful actions and words are important ways to give your children guidance in this tough and confusing time.