As a mother you spend your parenting days worrying about losing your baby to their first boyfriend or girlfriend (okay maybe I’m just over protective). As a child I never thought about the days I would be worrying about my mum’s boyfriends!
The Backstory
My mum and dad split when I was a few months old. My dad moved on but my mum never did. Not because she wasn’t over my dad, BELIEVE ME. “That ship sailed a long time ago” she would tell me whenever I longed for them to get back together and I did. I did long for them to get back together. The old saying goes “you can’t miss what you never had” but you can be jealous.
I guess I’ll never know what it’s like to have both parents under one roof but I think I got the better deal than some of my peers. I mean, I never walked in on them having sex, I never really witnessed any arguments and I got two Christmas’s, Easters, Birthdays and Halloweens every year until I was about 13.
Plenty of Fish in the Sea
Up until I moved out, my mum kept her dating life pretty under wraps. She devoted her whole life to me. I was her one and only. Just me and her. Then we hit the year 2014, I moved out and Plenty of Fish moved in (and I’m not talking the aquarium kind).
You’re probably thinking I was jealous but honestly, no I wasn’t. I was gutted my mum never let me help set her account up but I was so happy she was getting herself out there. She needed this. Not a man, she has never needed a man but she needed something for herself.
I remember the first encounter I had with one of her “friends”. Let’s call him Kip. Well he was a very handsome and lovely man we met over video chat and I’m sure he told my mum he loved her. He was lovely until he was a deceiving cockwaffle. He turned out to be married with kids and my mother had no idea. This is when the child became the parent.
I started to worry about my mum because she was still using the website and going on dates but I know what kind of guys use these sites and she learned pretty quickly. Of course, she did actually meet some nice, genuine people on there too. One is a dear friend who we all go for coffee with from time to time. One leads a very impulsive life but would do anything for my mum.
My mum would tell me about her dates in advance and I’d question her a little and then ask her all about them afterward. Usually it was coffee or dinner in the city. However, the most recent date made my stomach churn a little.
Happily Ever After
About a month ago my mother revealed she had been “seeing” somebody. They had been video chatting (I must explain here that my mum is a very tech savvy 40 something)for a while and she really liked him. So much so that she was going on a weekend trip down south to see him! This was too much. She was going to travel ALONE to meet this man. This man that I knew nothing about would be accommodating my mother for the week!?
I could not just let her go so I did what any normal over protective parent would do: I asked for EVERY SINGLE detail of her trip. Right enough, she sent me her itinerary, travel times, accommodation details, the man’s full name and a police sketch with his fingerprints… Okay, so I made that last part up but she was very forthcoming which put my mind at ease.
Off she went. She phoned me twice a day and let me talk to her new man on video chat. I have to say they both seemed very happy and very comfortable. So, who am I not to be happy in return?
I’ll tell you something though, I’m glad I’ve found my lobster because I don’t have the foggiest about dating. I’m not down with the kids on that “Tinder” app and I’m not sure I could handle having to split the bill nowadays.
After all the years I spent worrying about you and where you were when you didn’t come home until 5am this is payback 😂.
Okay true enough!