Join a League!

Relationships are funny things especially at the start. You have to feel your way around to see when and where to take big steps. Things like moving in together or purchasing large items are huge steps as far as relationships go. Maybe you aren't ready for that type of big step yet, what can you do to make a commetment but not dive head first into this realtionship. My suggestion is to join some sort of league. Be it bowling, gold, darts, softball, etc. there are endless possibilities. Now you might wonder why this is reat for you relationship, and the reason is that it shows you are looking at your relationship as a continueing thing. You are showing that you are looking towards the future with this person, without making a hard to reverse step. If things don't work out it is usually not that difficult to get out of one of these leagues. Another great benifit to joining leagues for a couple is you meet other out going couples that you might be able to become friends with. Couples that become friends are a great addition to your relationship as you will have others to enjoy things like cookouts, parties or eveneings out with. The friends you bring into your relationship at the start are either his or hers, but these new friends are "OUR" friends and are not partial to either of you. This can be a big help if you might have troubles down the line. Look through your local paper and the next time you see an advertisement asking for league members ask your partner if they would like to join, it might just be great for your relationship.

Take in a little league game together?

A great test of a relationship is to get each other to a little league game together. Especially if you don't have children. You can find a game easily in your town, pick a field where the little kids play and just go soak up the atmosphere. Not having a specific child to watch, you can absorb all the children with an open mind. Discuss each child and how they act on the field and connect it to yourself. Pick out which kid you feel best represented you at that age. Have you partner do the same. Discuss how you would handle situations as they arise during the coarse of the game. Make notes of parents you think are not setting good role models and ones that are. This way when and if you ever have children together you can use this date as a point of reference on how you might act. Watch and see which children are paying attention and which ones are picking daisies. Hopefully you will see that the main point of any event or contest for the children at this age is to have fun. I coached little league for over ten years now and when the kids ask me if we are winning or losing I always ask them "Are you having fun?" and when they say yes I say "Then we are winning"

One small note on this subject, you might want to make sure you sit far enough away from parents if you are discussing their children's behaviour so that they cannot hear you. Parents can be pretty protective of their kids. So if a kid is acting bad don't pour gas on the fire, they most likely learned it from their parents.