‘Tis the season for more family gatherings than ever before, so is this the best time to bring your online dating match-up to tag along?

Some dating advice says sure, they’re just like any other date.

But when you’re new to talking to each other, you might want to rethink this option.

First of all, meeting anyone’s family is a big deal. And a situation in which everyone is going to feel nervous. If your family isn’t big on the online dating concept, you might spend more of your time explaining why you’re certain your date isn’t a stalker than actually talking to each other.

If you don’t already know a lot about the date, you might be fielding angry looks from them and from your family as you try to manage a coherent sentence about their background and hobbies.

Meeting the family also has marriage connotations which might leave someone feeling like this was more than just any other date – even if you just met. You might be asked when the wedding is and just how long you’ve known this person which can become awkward after the third or fourth time.

In the end, it’s your call on whether to bring a date to grandma and grandpa’s, but you might want to consider leaving them out – it’s a gift they’ll be sure to treasure.

Family, Relationships Family, Holidays, Marriage, Parents

Relationships that go badly are no fun for anyone involved, but add in the holiday season and you have a bit of a mess on your hands. While you want to break up with a person, is that really the best thing to do during the holiday season?

There are two schools of though on this: one, you could break up with them because when they realize that you were just holding out until after the holidays were over, it’s going to be doubly painful. Or two, you could break up with them when the time is right (okay, but not in the middle of a family dinner) and simply be known as the significant other who stole Christmas/Hanukah/Etc.

In the end, most professional therapist agree that sparing someone’s feelings for a holiday is not the right way to be in a relationship – breaking up is the right decision whenever it is the right decision, regardless of the holiday or the date.

But that doesn’t mean you can’t do it nicely.

Some things to avoid:

• Breaking up during a planned gathering at a family member’s home
• Telling anyone that you’ve going to break up with the person before you actually tell the person
• Breaking up with them in a public place, over email, or over the phone

You might not get out of this breakup with a good reputation, but at least you’re being honest – and that’s going to count for something. Eventually.

Breaking Up, Family Breaking Up, Family, Holidays, Relationships

The great part about online dating is that there is something for everyone – and that includes single dads too. While many sites are focusing on helping single men and women find the loves of their lives, what about those men that already have children in their lives?

Just as with any online dating client, single dads get the ability to pick and choose from profiles that sound interesting to them – and if a woman enjoys children or wouldn’t mind dating a man that has kids, they can try to find out more about this particular woman.

Instead of having to go through the awkward discussion of the fact that they have kids and hoping that the woman doesn’t run in the other direction – these single dads can simply list this fact on their profile and only attract those women that are a good match for this situation.

And it’s not just that the woman needs to be able to deal with children, they also need to realize that these are men that might not have a lot of time to always be with their girlfriend and that they have different priorities – their children.

But more single dads than ever are turning to online dating as a convenient way to meet women who want to meet them – and more are bringing a new mom into their children’s lives with the love they find.

Family Dads, Divorce, Family, Kids, Parents