Singles Over 50 Want a Different Relationship – This Ain’t Ozzy and Harriet No More

September 20, 2009 / April Braswell / 25 Comments

Midlife Singles Aren’t Looking for an Ozzie and Harriet Style of Marriage Relationship Lifestyle

Modern Mate Selection Is Different Now for Singles Over 40 and 50

I’m just back from presenting 2 midlife dating workshops 2 hrs each covering different phases of online dating at a Las Vegas Singles Conference.  Most of the singles there were 40 years old and older.  Pretty much all Baby Boomers and Gen X singletons.  The singles workshops were very interactive, which was just great because the participants really got their money’s worth in terms of their investment of time and moola in attending.

One of the themes which emerged in both sessions as well as was point of conversation then at lunchtime was that Gen X and Boomers singles at this stage in life, after 45 and 50 years old pretty much – want a different kind of relationship than when they were 20 somethings or even early 30s somethings. They aren’t looking for a 1950s, 1960s and 1970s TV Family married couple relationship like Ozzie and Harriet, Danny Thomas did on Father Knows Best, Fred MacMurray on My Three Sons, or even Robert Reed on The Brady Bunch. They may have been our role models growing up during those times, or for the Gen X and Gen Y folks watching them all on syndication reruns that flooded television in the 1970s and 80s.

When that is the case and you are dating after likely already having children and owning a small house, townhouse, or condo, those are important things to discuss in the date 3-5+.  What do you want?  Now that you have already had kids… what do you want now in a relationship? What kind of lifestyle do you lead now at midlife now that having having children is past and you are seguing into empty-nesting? Do you travel regularly for business? Personal adventures traveling?

Not only are these important things and questions to ask your date once you first determine whether or not their is the all-important imperative of In-Person Chemistry (not just the fantasy from Online Email Message Exchanges).  These are also important questions to pose to yourself!  And Dating is the laboratory for vetting out the truth, testing, and refining.

Until you are well-matched for a life-long love LIFE partnership… which may or may not at your age result in marriage. While the majority of Midlifers are looking for a LTR long term relationship and commitment, marriage isn’t always on the table for a number of reasons. What kind of relationship are you seeking? Which sites are you using and what kind of experiences are

Happy Dating and Relationships,

April Braswell

Las Vegas Midlife Baby Boomer Online Dating Expert

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April Braswell

April Braswell is internationally recognized as America's Midlife Dating and Relationship Mentor and the award winning expert columnist at DatingAdvice.com. Bringing over 40 years of Sales and Marketing expertise, April is a the trusted Small Business Consultant and Coach to Leading Executives and Emerging Leaders. Author of best seller, Get Swipe Right. April coaches marriage-minded men and women to find and attract love, your best life partner. Life Love Love relationship. Love after 40 and 50. Photos appear by licenses with iStock. All rights reserved.

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Comments

  2. Hey hey Mr. Steve. Great to see the West Coast contingent is still awake (if we can call it that, lol) and blogging, commenting, and connecting. As always, it is great to see you here at my blog. Thanks for stopping by and commenting. – April

  3. Hi April,

    I have no idea what I want in a relationship (which is partly why I’m single I think I should know or I’m wasting someone elses time). Don’t want drama because it takes too much time and energy and I can’t be bothered. Don’t want partner constantly focused on me cause that’s annoying. I’ll keep reading your tips and eventually I’ll figure out what I want and how to get it. Welcome back

    Keri Eagan

  9. Funny I just had a talk with my Dad yesterday, not on dating, but about life as you get older and your comments fit. When my Dad was younger he couldn’t wait to go hunt elk, and possibly caribou, or moose, but now his priorities have changed and that isn’t even on his mind. So with dating and other things in life your priorities change.

    Robert Martin

  10. Hi Lynn,

    lol, indeed! Thanks for keeping things real around here and showing your Real Person thumb print by leaving in some typos. Them people see you are a genuine person and not a Bot. 🙂

    Thanks for stopping by,

    April

  13. Interesting…
    I’ve been doing some research around the idea of a website for over 50s BECAUSE what they want from life is generally different to the “youngsters” AND I think the internet, with all its resources, would be a great way for the over 50s to explore possibilities and expand horizons.

  14. Really good point April. We want and need different things as we get older and it is important to be clear on what your wants and needs are with yourself before you can even approach another.

    Anthony

  16. Hey April, I have recommended you to the boomers I know who are actively . . . or not so actively dating. Lots of folks are shy about dating in their 50s, what’s up with that?
    , Katie

  20. Hi April,

    Glad the workshops went well. I had no doubt.
    I would imagine that many who are now single want to get back a solid long term relationship like the one they lost.
    And others want to have a chance to be their own person.
    Many who were married early (I wed at 23 and will be married 25 years next Summer) never lived life on their own for any length of time and want to try it.

    Seize the Day,
    Rob

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