Dating at forty is an interesting endeavor, as is trying to date or be social as a single parent. The other morning, I was listening to a morning talk show on the radio and the topic was whether or not people still went out to bars and tried to meet people. THEN, a mid-forty-year-old friend of mine was saying that my not wanting to go out to bars and dances was keeping me from being open to meeting someone new. I’m sorry, I don’t really want to end up all rigid and judgmental, but that is definitely NOT the scene for me…
I was barely into bars and such when I was in my early twenties. Now, I really bars, dancing, drinking, public carryings on, or the type of people who still think that is fun at the age or forty or fifty. I have nothing against it, I think that those options should definitely remain for those people who are into it, but it is just not for me. Does that really make me rigid? Does that mean that I am going to remain single forever? Maybe. But I would rather be a single parent at peace with herself, her pleasures, and her values, than one who is out prowling the bars even though she doesn’t enjoy it a bit!
According to the radio program, plenty of the people who called in who were over forty, and/or single parents still DO go out to bars and drinking dances trying to meet people. It must be working for some and is a sustained social activity that seems imbedded in our society. People say things like “Where else can you meet people?” But I can’t help but think back on the times I have been to those places and remember the sort of people that were hanging out…it just seems to me that for a mature single parent, there has to be a better way…
Also: Should You Include Your Child on a Date
When Your KIDS Think You Should “Find Someone”