Relationship Advice - Dating Someone Your Parents Really Do Not Like!

Sooner or later it is going to happen: you are going to find someone you want to be with and when your parents meet this person, they instantly "hate" them. What do you do then? Do you break it off or continue the relationship? Actually, it depends.

You first need to ask yourself why your parents really do not like your love interest:

• is this person bad for you?
• does this person have a checkered past?
• is this person too old?
• or is this person too young?
• is this person from a different race, religion or other important criteria?

Parents don't dislike someone unless they feel they have a good reason. It might not seem legitimate to you, but it will to them.

If the person is bad for you, ask them why they think they are a bad influence. Give them a chance to voice their concerns. They are just looking to protect you like you would protect your own child. See what their concern is all about and decide if it is justified. Above all, be open-minded.

Next, admit why you are dating this person. Do you actually see a future with this person? Or are you dating them just to drive your parents crazy? If you know your parents will hate them and you decide to follow through anyway, of course you know what will happen. Dating someone to spite your parents also isn't fair to the person you are dating. They should be with you because you want them to be there, not because you are using them.

Your best defense is to sit your parents down and explain why you want to date this person. Be open and be honest. And above all, don't ever try to hide the relationship. If you do, this is all the more reason for your parents not to approve. In their eyes, if it were an ideal situation, you wouldn't have to hide it, right?

Sometimes parents do not approve because they just don't know the whole story, or they have their facts wrong. Sometimes, it is just a case of trying to be protective. You see it as being over-protective: they see it as caring. This is why you have to talk. Sometimes it is just a matter of clearing up a few facts that are not accurate.

If they are still insistent you don't date, then maybe they should spend more time around the person. Ask them if they are open to it. Sometimes the only way to win them over is to let them see your love interest with their own eyes.