Dating at middle age

For every upside to middle school romance, there’s a pretty harsh downside.

Rejection is hard at any age but especially so at a stage when you feel physically, emotionally, and socially vulnerable.

Being known as “Steven’s Girlfriend” gives a 12-year-old girl a sense of identity and a place in the crowd.

My daughter often gives me an update on the social goings-on in her class.

Last week she said, “Did I tell you that Allie broke up with Carter Smith?

” She went on to say, “They’d been dating for like six months, but she said she didn’t want a boyfriend right now. Eleven and trying to figure out the dynamics of a months-long exclusive relationship and using words like “dating” to describe them. The middle school years are a time of major transition for kids as nature forces them along the path toward adulthood.

So she’s not going to date anyone else for a while.” The kicker? It’s not like we, as parents, can prevent their sudden interest in the opposite sex because, well–But allowing that new interest to move quickly into a serious romantic attachment with a peer has its pitfalls.