When is it ok for seeing someone to become ‘dating’?

When is it ok for seeing someone to become ‘dating’? Does dating immediately imply exclusivity? And if you’re ‘dating’, does that mean that you are then entitled to call your partner ‘boyfriend/girlfriend’?

Oh! And what about this: is it ok for one of the two partners to decide that this ‘relationship’ is in fact a relationship and starts to call it so without your permission?

And how should one react when all of these scenarios happen to them within 24hrs of meeting someone for the first time? Scary, right? But even scarier when the person in question just so happens to be perfect.

From such a young age, most women I know (myself included) dreamed of finding the perfect mate. For many of us, that dream has followed us right into adulthood. It makes me laugh (yes, perhaps with a touch of cynicism in said laugh)that even when the perfect person comes along, we still find things wrong with them (or with the situation, or with the intensity of their feelings, etc ). And really, our preferences become more defined and sharpened as we mature (which is a wonderful thing!) but this makes it all the more difficult to find someone to match our own state of neurosis.

How can we decide when to indulge and give a relationship a try without giving up too much of ourselves, our very precious time and a little bit of control?

Broken hearts are deadly. Disappointment is crushing. But aren’t regrets the worst cup of poison?