It can be challenging trying to get your bearings together in the dating world when you’ve been in a relationship for the past decade or more. Women who are in their 50s and are just now finding themselves single again can easily make some dating snafus that most of us know better than to do. A lot of these dating no-no’s can actually hurt their chances of finding the man they are looking for.
We’ve created this short list of the most common dating mistakes women in their 50s make, so that you can avoid them and get one step closer to the relationship you deserve.
1. Being set in your ways. We get it.
You don’t come this far in life without being set in your ways. Unfortunately, this inability to be flexible can turn men off, thus hurting their chances of falling in love with someone.
Ideally, when you find yourself dating again, you’ll want to be more open to new things. This means letting that tight schedule fall to the wayside so that you are more available for that spontaneous trip to the beach.
2. Talking about the ex.
Whatever happened in the past should stay in the past. Should the person you are dating now ask about what caused the relationship to end, you’ll want to say as little about it as you can without sounding suspicious. You could also tell him that you would rather not sully the date by bringing up the past, but you’ll talk about it another time.
3. Acting paranoid.
How many times has there been a scene in the movies where a potential love interest is over and they go to the bathroom and they go through their date’s medicine cabinet, drawers, or whatever else that is clearly a breach of privacy? This is very rude, but what’s more cringe worthy is that people still do it. No one wants to date someone that can ignore their privacy simply because you’re looking for something bad. That’s rude and shows you’re paranoid.
4. You seem needy.
After being in a relationship for any length of time, you’re probably used to having someone around all the time. So now that you’re single, it can be difficult making that adjustment to all this new found free time. When you start to see someone new, you might feel like you want to be around them all the time, but you may want to hold off on that and continue doing your own thing. Co-dependency isn’t a trait that many men look for in a woman, so your best bet is to relax and try to enjoy your freedom while you can.
5. You never offer to pick up the tab.
One of the benefits of dating in your 50s is that you have more opportunities to go out for nice dates, now that the kids are out of the house. The first time you started dating back when you were younger, it was customary for men to pay the bill; however, now that you’re dating again and are going out more frequently, you should offer to pay every now and then, or even split the bill. Most men in this age group will decline your offer, but it is still a nice gesture to put the offer out there.