For centuries Hollywood has led us to believe that all first dates should be amazing. According to the movies, as soon as we lay our eyes on our escort for the evening we should feel butterflies and see fireworks.
The dinner should be a mix of witty banter and respectful flirting and when he walks us home, he should give us the perfect kiss. Oh and he’s totally going to ring us the next day and ask when we’re free to do it all again.
Sadly, the reality of modern dating is much harsher. Chances are you’ll have many, many, many bad dates before you meet someone that you think you like enough to see again. You’ll experience rude men, sweet men who just aren’t your type and men who you really like but who just seem to vanish into thin air when you think you’re getting closer to them.
Dating is hard, upsetting at times and, if we’re being completely honest, absolutely exhausting. In fact, most of us would happily swear off it if we were given the choice.
Here are the signs that you’re fed up of dating.
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You Know You’re Fed Up Of Dating When…
“Do I really HAVE to put on make-up for this? Ugghhh!”
Getting ready feels like too much effort: What do you mean I have to get dressed, put on some make-up, do my hair and wear proper shoes instead of slippers? Ugh. Can’t I just meet him in my fleecy onesie? Why can’t he just come here and hang out? All I want is to sit down in front of the telly. Despair!
You want to scream every time someone asks you a generic question like ‘So where did you go to college?’: Coversations on dates aren’t fun anymore. Mainly because you know exactly what your gentleman friend is going to ask you before he even opens his mouth. You’ve answered questions like the above so many times that you can just rattle off the answers without even really thinking about it.
You have WAY more fun with your pet dog/cat/hamster: You have SO much fun with Mittens, in fact, that you’re seriously starting to question why on earth you even want a boyfriend in the first place. He’ll never be as good as Mittens. Mittens makes you laugh, is always game for a hug and happily listens to you moan about men without judgement. Mittens is sound like.
“Well… a boyfriend would totally ruin my regular reality TV marathons…”
You’ve become attached to your evening routine of pyjamas/trashy reality TV/chocolate and you don’t want someone else to ruin it for you: Let’s be honest, if you start seriously dating someone they’ll expect you to hang out in the evenings. They’ll also expect you to show up dressed in proper clothes (i.e. you won’t get away with wearing your pj bottoms. Sad face).
You’re getting fed up of eating in fancy restaurants: At this stage you’ve had dinner in every single restaurant in the vicnity. At first it was fun but now all you really want is a plate of oven chips and chicken nuggets cooked in your dodgy old oven.
You see dating as being financially irresponsible: You’re a grown-up now. Surely you should be saving money rather than spending money on dates?
You convince yourself that you won’t like him before you leave the house: He’s into sports and travelling, you like your sofa and back-to-back marathons of Keeping Up With The Kardashians. You know it’s not going to work so you might as well cut your losses and stay at home tonight, huh?
You’re so focussed on your career that dating feels like a waste of time: If by “career” you mean that blog you set up one night or that scarf you’ve been trying to knit since 2001…
