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When to Introduce Your Kid To Someone You Are Dating
Hint: There is no perfect time.
When is the best time to introduce someone you are dating to your children? If you judge by my experience, the answer is never.
But since that isn’t practical, let’s look at the two sides of the arguments about when. The most popular method, if you go by all the standard advice from the experts, is after you are sure that the relationship is serious. Whatever the heck serious is these days.
Most of my friends chose that method. I initially chose the opposite, for what seemed like excellent logic at the time.
When I was a single Mom raising my son, I decided to introduce him to people I dated early on. The reasoning was, what if I waited until it was serious, and then he didn’t like them? His happiness was always at the forefront of my mind, and it seemed cruel to bring someone in when it was too late or very dificult for me to back out, and then find out my son hated the hapless fellow.
This started early. The hating part, I mean. When he was still in diapers, but able to toddle, perhaps at around 18 months, I brought a guy around that I liked a lot and could imagine a future with. My son went over to him, pulled down his diaper and peed on him. Talk about marking territory. That instinct must be inherent in the male of…
