EHarmony for Teens has Some Merit

It’s every parents’ wonder…who will their children someday marry?

Fortunately, my husband and I have some time before we really have to worry about our sons’ love lives. But a funny post on Facebook reminded me of some of my first experiences with dating.

My parents were very strict throughout my youth – no pierced ears, no painted nails, no secular music, and absolutely no school dances. After all, I might end up standing close to a boy AND listening to the devil’s music!

So when I turned 16, the year of “the first date,” I’m sure it was as difficult for my parents as it was for me. Well, maybe not QUITE as difficult.

See, anytime a boy would come calling, he first met with my dad, then my mom. It was a very formal process. I always gave the boys fair warning.

My dad would say things like, “My daughter is like a fine piece of crystal. If she comes home fingered up and broken, you’ll have me to deal with,” as he'd puff out his chest and flex his biceps.

You know, the typical dad stuff.

But it got worse. Not only did my poor lost loves endure these paternal threats, they were also required to sit and take a test. That was mom’s part. No joke.

Yes, although they were probably nervous enough just having to meet the parents, they were required to complete a personality-profiling test to ensure that they were the "perfect match" for me.

Naturally, I had already taken the test – perhaps even two or three times to confirm validity of my personality characteristics. I forget exactly how the results turned out – High 1, Low 2, Middle 3…something like that.

But those poor boys. They were so sweet…so innocent (well, maybe not all of them).

They succumbed without argument and quietly colored in the little round circles for each question, perspiration dripping from their foreheads onto the kitchen table as they went from line to line.

And it wasn’t until they had done so that I was allowed to leave the house with them. What a buzzkill!

Ultimately, I found a good match. Ironically, his test results were much like my mother’s, so of course she had to approve.

Having boys of my own, I don’t know how I’d respond if they came home from a first date with stories of fingered-up crystal and Scantron forms.

But then again, relationships are a bit of a business, aren’t they?

Things like compatibility and communication are pretty essential when you commit your life to someone, thus the invention and success of online dating sites.

I wonder if perhaps this personality profiling should be part of the marriage license process. If they pass, it’s signed. If not, they keep looking. With divorce rates the way they are, it might not be such a bad thing.

Maybe mom and dad were onto something! It was like the eHarmony of teen dating in the early ‘90s.

Lucky for me the DiSC profiling system is now available on-line. That should make the process go much faster for my sons' girlfriends when the time is upon us.