Congrats to you, king/queen of dating. You’ve gotten past a few dates with a new special someone and now you’re in that weird in between point of “What the hell are we?” Quit your Googling on “how to have the talk” and instead, read our list of the 8 ways to know you’re ready to become exclusive. We’re expecting our wedding invite any day now.
1. You’ve had at least one talk about the future.
Future can refer to anything from how many kids you want to have or how you’re gonna get to that concert you bought tickets for in three months. As long as you’ve mentioned something about what’s to come in the relationship, exclusivity is almost always the natural next step.
2. You’ve dated around a lot.
3. You have a lot in common.
Religion, interests, hobbies, crazy Jewish moms, whatever.
4. You still have your own lives outside of each other.
In the early stages of dating you’re probably still at that point where you have a good friend/significant other balance, and at that point is the perfect time to make it official. Keep that momentum going into the relationship and you’ll become a healthy couple, not that mushy OMG gross-and-inseparable-one.
5. Your friends know about him/her.
There’s a reason you’re spilling the juicy deets to your BFFS, you know. Next step is telling the parents…
6. You know at least something about each others’ upbringing.
We’re not saying you need to have memorized your SO’s family tree by now, but knowing how many siblings they have, what their parents are like and where they grew up are pretty much basic convos that need to happen by date, like, three, tops.
7. You’ve broken pretty much all dating rules with this person.
Didn’t wait 48 hours to text? Friended him/her on Facebook way before the norm? Good sign. That means your budding relationship isn’t textbook. See number 2, by the way.
8. You speak to them constantly.
Like, all day long.If they’re the person you run home to call after a crazy day at work, well, we think we’ve made our point here.
