15 dating tips for fifteen-year-old girls.

Recently I tried to strike up an awkward, dating advice-laden conversation with a 15-year-old girl who was not at all interested in hearing it.  Go figure!  Having been that age at one long-ago point myself, I get it. It’s uncomfortable at best, preachy at worst and regardless of its truth, advice is usually unwelcome.  I still have to grit my teeth if someone begins to tell me how I should be acting, thinking or feeling. I’d rather learn it all on my own, thank you.

But I also get how age begets pseudo-wisdom and I share with other old fogeys the desire to use my hard-earned knowledge to save someone from a particular pain or heartache I endured.

Though this specific 15-year-old girl needed no advice, I thought I might share with my readers what I may have said had I been given the chance. If you have a teenage girl in your life, feel free to cut and paste your favorite tip and pass it along to her as if it’s coming directly from you.  If she’ll hear you, of course.  If she won’t listen, just post it on her facebook wall.

1. Only date guys your own age.  (At least until you graduate from college.)  I know that your male peers look and act horribly immature right now, and the older guys are so attractive, but stick with the same-agers.  Much about dating and relationships can accidentally turn into a power struggle and a battle for control.  Maintaining as equal a playing field as possible will only help you.  (Yes, I know that I mostly dated older guys, but my favorite ex-boyfriends are all very close to my age!)
2. A truly platonic friendship is rare and special.  Treasure it if you come across it.  It’s rare because it’s likely that the relationship is platonic because one of you doesn’t want to make it romantic and the other does.  And I bet that you’ve each wanted it to be more at different times.  If you are lucky enough to be friends first, tread carefully before allowing it to become something else.  I always found it much harder to undo the damage of a break-up and get back to the business of being friends than to just experience a little unrequited crushing.
3. When dressing for a date, ask yourself this one question:  Could anybody accidentally mistake this dress, this skirt or these shoes for a stripper costume?  If the answer is no, carry on and enjoy your night.
4. Okay, this one is where the awkward part may have begun if I had been allowed to share my tips that night.  During my own teenage dating years, we used the timeworn “four bases” shorthand to describe any form of sexual relations.  (Yeah, I know that now it’s called “hooking up.”) First base was kissing, second base was a hand up, third base a hand down and by the time you crossed home plate for a homerun you were engaging in full intercourse.  (It sounds much swifter than it was, btw.)  We spoke about it so casually – “did you get to second base?”  “How far did you go with him?”  “Just to third base and then I stopped him.”  My tips on bases:  If you decide to kiss a boy, kiss him again the following week, again in the movie theater and one more time at the bus stop, this does not mean that by the fifth time you must go to second base.  If you decide to kiss him when you are both alone and have loads of time on your hands and nothing else to do, this does not mean you have agreed to go to the next base, though he may try to convince you differently.  If you agree to go to a base one day, this does not mean that you have automatically agreed to go to that base the following day.  If you break up with a boy that you went to a base with, you do not need to feel obligated to go to that base again with your next boyfriend.
5. I hope you only go to any base because of love and not for any other reason than to express that love. Someday you will know a friend who will go to bases in hopes of gaining love, acceptance or popularity, to get attention, to numb a sadness inside her or because she feels obligated.  Please tell her she doesn’t need to, and bases won’t get her what she is looking for anyway.  (PS.  Just to be clear: notwithstanding that it’s 2013 and this will sound old-fashioned and out-of-touch, I hope you save most of those bases, and especially home plate, for the man you marry.)
6. In my day we understood that emotions and feelings were attached to going to bases.  Today it looks like kids pretend differently and act cavalier and nonchalant about hooking up.  Take it from a sage, right now your heart is capable of profound affection and deep hurt.  Don’t stuff those feelings, listen to them.
7. Know that he may kiss (bases!) and tell.  You should keep it quiet.
8. Be kind to each boy you date.  He may act tough, be hard to read or hold himself aloof, but I bet that you turn him into a nervous wreck and he can’t figure out how to impress you.  Give him a break if he stutters, says the wrong thing or trips while opening a door for you.  He’s learning too.  (Yes, I know older guys have already mastered this stuff, but go back to tip #1!)
9. If you are finished dating him, try to be as honest as possible without being cruel.
10. Don’t be that girl who puts her friends down in that sarcastic jokey way when boys are around.  You are beautiful.  The kindness you show to your friends will make you more attractive to boys as you get older.  Catty = turn off.
11. If you ever feel like you are trying to make yourself smaller, less smart, less funny, or less the center of attention to help your boyfriend or date feel better, bigger or smarter, move on from that boy right away.
12. Your gut instinct is your friend.  If you get creeped-out at the thought of being alone with him, listen to that. (It doesn’t matter if he is the captain of the lacrosse team and the boy all the girls are swooning about and he is choosing you.  You don’t have to swoon unless you want to.)
13. No matter how broke you are, always carry enough money to pay for your own meal and get yourself safely home. Yes, he should pay for your meal, provide transportation and hold the door for you.  If he doesn’t, that doesn’t mean he is a jerk, but it might mean the evening is not as special to him as you had imagined it to be.  Or it might mean he isn’t well trained.  Listen to your gut.
14. I know you’ll disregard tip #1 at some point.  If you do date older boys or men, please make sure they are not your teacher or coach, your friend’s father, or anyone who is closer to my age than yours.  It will be obvious why they want to be near you, but seriously… yuck.
15. My final tip (for now – I reserve the right to add to this list!) comes from my dear friend who has successfully parented loads of boys and girls.  Here’s what she whispered to her daughters as they were heading out the door for their first prom:  “When you are dancing, be careful not to rub up against his body because it will make his wee-wee hard.”  ‘Nuff said.

Go forth and have a blast in your non-stripper-costume-looking outfit.  I trust your judgment and I hope you will too.

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