With the divorce rate still high, there are many single people trying to find a relationship who have children. Some of them prefer to wait until a relationship is serious before introducing their new partner to the children, but others would rather get the awkwardness over. They might decide the best approach is to include their child on the first date, and they will then judge whether or not the person is suitable for them. This can have serious consequences for the future of the relationship, so it is a difficult choice for many.
A parent does not leave their child when they get out of a marriage, and any future long term relationship will be a package deal. If their date is unable to be around their child, the relationship will not have much chance of working. There are no hard rules about when to introduce the rest of the family, so it is up to each person to decide when it is appropriate. The maturity of the child, the expectations of the parent and the date’s feelings about the situation should all be taken into account.
There might be unexpected consequences to introducing the child up front, but not all of them are bad. While children do act up when they feel upset, some of them handle this type of situation with ease. Their world is a series of meetings with strangers, so they might handle being on their parent’s first date with someone easily.
Children are often charming, and one issue that might arise is the date goes badly for the adults but well for the child. In this case, it is the adults who pay the consequences. A person who likes their date’s child better than their date will find the relationship will soon end, so it might be best to wait before introducing them.
