21st Century Dating Game

“I’ve got a date mum”. These words put the fear of God in me every time I hear them. Why? Well, I have a gorgeous 26 year old daughter who is resolutely single after kissing several ugly frogs and not a Prince amongst them as I've mentioned before. Trouble is she is also mum to our lovely 5 year old grandchild. Now, I grew up in the 50’s in a very strict Roman Catholic household. There was no sex before marriage, no contraception allowed and it was instilled in me that if you “got into trouble”, no decent man would touch you with a bargepole because he wouldn’t want to bring up another man’s offspring. After all males in the animal kingdom kill and sometimes eat their rival's progeny before they mate with the mother. Now, I know there are loads of great step-dads, (and mums), out there but they seem thin on the ground where my girl is concerned. Not that she's particularly keen on becoming a step-mum to some odious teens. But unfortunately the current crop of available men appear to be embittered divorcees whose children probably won't welcome a new step-mummy young enough to be their big sis. We’re extremely proud that Becky eschewed a miserable shot-gun wedding for appearance sake as this usually ends in tears. I was only chatting recently to the 35 year old son of a friend who confided that he wished his parents hadn’t stayed together purely for him and his siblings, “We always felt uncomfortable especially when we went on holiday with friends whose parents obviously got on well together. I think our parents made a big mistake”. My daughter is in no hurry to get spliced. She's decided she wants no more children so her biological clock isn’t running out but what happens if Mr Right eventually does turn up and he does want kids? Any suggestions will be gratefully considered. First published September 2015