My personal insight into online dating began through watching the experiences of my mother. When I was a mere 14 year old girl, sick to death of my mother being single after a messy divorce, I signed her up (without her knowledge) to a dating website. Now, 8 years on, she is engaged to the very man she met online… affirming my absolute faith in online dating.
I myself trickled into the world of dating apps, falling particularly into those designed for people with smartphones to judge each other based on appearance alone and that taught me something about attractions. My mother’s happiness is as much about mine as it is about hers and so, being a protective (and rather choosy) daughter, my experience of the ‘weirdo’s’ and ‘wonderfuls’ available out there in online dating has inspired me to give my advice.
Your kids want to see you happy and that means not being naïve about the types of men interested in us beautiful creatures. I know myself that naivety can get you into potentially dangerous situations. You probably don’t need to hear it from me, but you cannot be sure who you are talking to on the other side of the screen. The gorgeous ‘Jack’ who loves sunset walks on the beach and is a big time lawyer in the city could very well be ‘Jake’ who loves Xbox and is from the local pizza delivery parlour. You just don’t know.
But you can take some measures to be prepared. Asking questions and assessing the amount of photos he has available is a good place to start. If you Google ‘Jack’s’ photo and it pings up on the old Myspace profile of some guy named George you know there’s something wrong. If he cannot answer basic questions on what he does and where to a ‘T’ then the same applies. And if he is funny about you asking questions… then he isn’t worth the time it took to ask them!
As you’re on Toyboy Warehouse, you probably already know what you’re looking for. It could very well be the next 25 year old Enrique Iglesias (wouldn’t we all love that!), but if you’re looking for someone who will be there at the end of the day to cuddle, make sure your expectations are clear. Luckily, the site gives you the chance to be open about what you want in your profile, so that whether it’s a fling or a more serious connection that you are looking for, your hopes are openly defined.
Also, when you’re looking for a new relationship, make sure you are also still working on your relationship with yourself. Make him fall in-love with a ‘you’ that you love! I know, that sounds terribly cheesy but if you think about it I am speaking a whole lot of sense.
Have some fun with the journey and experiment! My mother dated a few ‘weirdo’s’ in her time but she eventually found the ‘wonderful’ and I think that really goes to show how online dating genuinely works and if it is done correctly and safely then it really can become something really special and exciting.
After all, what is better than meeting someone through love at first type?
Written by Elyse Boniface and published as part of our 30 Blogs in 30 Days campaign, on Mother’s Day weekend.
