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Relationships

Mumsnet has not checked the qualifications of anyone posting here. If you need help urgently or expert advice, please see our domestic violence webguide and/or relationships webguide. Many Mumsnetters experiencing domestic abuse have found this thread helpful: Listen up, everybody

Early Days Dating

22 replies

Cowapjn · 11/09/2021 18:29

Hello everyone - possible single womens opinion needed although, any opinion is welcome.

So - im 35 and been single 4/5 years. Whenever i meet a girl that i like and we start going on 2/3 dates etc which is rare, i get insecure. Reason being - ive been in quite a few scenarios in the past in which ive been dating a girl early days and its going incredibly well but it just doesnt work out and i dunno why. I think its so difficult to take off with someone dating .

Current situation - met a girl over instagram. We have been talking for 4 or so months and been out 3 times on dates.
This part of the story may be irrelevant but ill touch on it anyway ...
Initially for the first 2 months of talking before we met up, the plan was potentially having a no strings sex arrangement and we would meet up go for a walk and if we liked each other we could start it. after about 2 months of talking the convo changed from soley being about sex and we started to get to know each other. about 3 months of talking we met up as planned went for a walk, got on really well no awkward silences etc and even had a kiss - it was fab.
It became clear to me that i didnt just want no strings sex wth this girl - i really started to like her. I started talking about me us going out again and she then ghosted me.
2 weeks later after not speaking i messaged her asking if shes ok etc and i put it to her that i think the reason she ghosted me may be because the plan was always no strings then here i am asking for a 2nd date and she might of been like "what the hell are you on about 2nd date - that was never the plan"
She then started talking to me again apologising for being quiet her family had covid etc but never actually confirmed my theory on her going quiet was correct. So we started talking about no strings again she was asking my taboos etc .

about 4 weeks ago we spontaneously went on and ended up in a cocktail bar and had 1 drink and it was basically an unplanned date. We stayed out till 1am chatting all over each other ertc and i came away with my head battered cos again i realised even more that i liked her and wanted more than just sex.

We had a talk anyway and we both agreed to forget about any sort of plan , no putting titles on stuff etc and see how things go. I said if i had the choice of 10 dates and no sex or to just have sex id choose the 10 dates and she liked that.
Its all very confusing cos shes told me she not had sex in a year since she split with her ex, has never had a one night stand and always maes a guy wait 2/3 months into a relationship till they sleep together so her wanting no strings sex makes no sense - maybe it was some sort of defence mechanism and she never deep down wanted just sex and was telling me what i wanted to hear - who knows.

as i said - thats probably irrelevant to my current situation anyhow.

So things have been going well she said im boyfriend material etc we both want the same things she wants to meet someone and settle down and have kids etc so shes pretty serious about meeting somone and here i am boyfriend material apparently.

13 days ago her life started to crumble a bit. She had issues with her mum, her grandmas husband passed away (basically her grandad) shes been really ill and shes borrowed someone £400 an only family friend and shes struggling to get it back and instead shes getting a load of abuse from this person and thats really getting her down too.

Last sunday we went on our 3rd date and she explained that she had been in bed all day poorly she even felt poorly when we was out i could tell she wasnt right and she wasnt her usual self due to being poorly and with all the stuff thats going on in her life. I tried my best to cheer her up anyhow. I dropped her off and thought how good it was that despite being poorly, despite going through a really rough spell - she still came to see me.
That was last weekend - fast forward to this weekend shes gone away with her family for a little break away which is definitely needed. Im just struggling a bit and struggling how to deal with it all. She last messaged me a couple of days ago on thursday and i replied back then heard nothing. tried ringing her she didnt answer and yesterday morning i sent her a message saying i hope she has a good time away and to message me if she wants to and she didnt reply to that either. I also sent her a letter which got delivered wednesday cos she really love stuff like that and she text to say she had the letter and she will read it later but shes said nothing about it since.

Obviously shes being quiet with me cos of all the stuff thats going on. I know what its like when your feeling down - you do go quiet with people. I think i just need to carry on leaving her this weekend and give her some space, dont in any way moan to her cos thats adding to her problems and just try and chill but its really hard ha!
it fees like we have gone from enjoying this whole dating thing getting to know each other and ive had to slam the brakes on and take a step back an give her space.
Maybe she just needs to ride the rough storm and it will clear soon and i need to ride it with her too. I am going to leave her be this weekend but then again shes told me before if a guy doesnt bother with her for a few days she will take it that hes not interested and leave it so i also dont want to leave her for a bit its so hard haha then again the way i see it i tried to make contact a few times and even sent a cute letter so the ball is well and truly in her court to touch base with me soon.
I feel so sorry for her though cos u can really tell when speaking to her how low she feels and i sent her some roses but she got them just before her bad spell started so i got them a week too soon haha i just really care about her really like her so if anyone has any advice on how to handle this delicate situation please let know. is there anything more i can do for her to help her? i really do feel awful for her though shes such a sweet cute person :(

OP posts:
ClaudiaWinkleHam · 11/09/2021 19:11

Please stop harassing this woman.

Doggiedementia · 11/09/2021 19:13

You’re very intense. Back off and stop messaging her.

Aprilx · 11/09/2021 19:16

That was hard work to read and I do wonder if it is just as hard to work you out in real life. I had to reread the bit about “slamming the breaks on” when you have had three dates in four months! How much slower can this go? To be honest, I think you need to knock this one on the head, it has gone nowhere and frankly sounds like pulling teeth (for both of you I would expect).

Why don’t you decide what it is you want, a possible relationship or no strings sex. And if it is the former, I would suggest you stop wasting so much time online and start to move things along at a more normal pace in real life.

Cowapjn · 11/09/2021 19:19

@ClaudiaWinkleHam

Please stop harassing this woman.
May I ask what part of what i wrote insinuates im harrassing her ? weve spoken ever day or 2 as you do when your dating and shes now going through a tough time so ive even said in my post ive backed off to give her space with whats going on in her life. Harrassing her though - really?
OP posts:
rainbowdashsneeze · 11/09/2021 19:21

I agree this sounds awful! Far too intense... she's probably run for the hills.

NonsensicalHair · 11/09/2021 19:23

Definitely give her space. You've made it clear that you're interested in seeing her, abundantly so, so if/when she wants to get in contact, she will. Don't add to her burdens by constantly messaging - that will push her away.

It sounds like you're being too full on right now.

NonsensicalHair · 11/09/2021 19:26

She can't be in any doubt that you're interested in pursuing a relationship (flowers, letter, calls, texts...) so please do just back off and leave her be for now. If she doesn't get in contact, then that's her decision and you need to move on.

Cowapjn · 11/09/2021 19:28

@NonsensicalHair

Definitely give her space. You've made it clear that you're interested in seeing her, abundantly so, so if/when she wants to get in contact, she will. Don't add to her burdens by constantly messaging - that will push her away.

It sounds like you're being too full on right now.

Thank you - i appreciate how it sounds. My heads battered with it all because i really like her but im definitely not portraying that to her when i speak with her. Im very chilled when i speak with her i dont message loads at all, our convos are chilled i dont talk deep all the time and so on. I like to keep it all chilled whilst in side im not chilled haha i wrote her a letter yeah fair enough but she kinda wanted me to anyway. weve just hit a bad spell cos of whats been going on in her life lately but she will get through it and we will see if me and her het through it too but i definitely agree - i dont want to give her another problem i.e me hence why ive taken a step back, wont be messaging her whilst shes away and so on. I was more looking for advice on how to handle being around someone your dating whos going through a bad patch really
OP posts:
Cowapjn · 11/09/2021 19:30

@NonsensicalHair

She can't be in any doubt that you're interested in pursuing a relationship (flowers, letter, calls, texts...) so please do just back off and leave her be for now. If she doesn't get in contact, then that's her decision and you need to move on.
thank you - no much more i can do really is there and i definitely need to back off whilst shes going through this bad spell and shes gone away. Obviously we cant currently have the same type and same level of convos that we was having 3+ weeks go cos shes going through this bad spell so i just have to give her space and be understanding.
OP posts:
ClaudiaWinkleHam · 11/09/2021 19:31

In your own words… She last messaged me a couple of days ago on thursday and i replied back then heard nothing. tried ringing her she didnt answer and yesterday morning i sent her a message saying i hope she has a good time away and to message me if she wants to and she didnt reply to that either. I also sent her a letter which got delivered wednesday

Not getting a message back is a message. Move on. Leave her be.

CloseYourEyesAndSee · 11/09/2021 19:37

I don't think she's on the same page you are.
I think you're building this up in your head to be much more than it is. You've chatted about sex a lot and had 3 dates. You aren't in a relationship, it's very early dating. Take a step back and wait to see if she contacts you.

NonsensicalHair · 11/09/2021 19:40

It sounds like you're really emotionally invested in this, which I appreciate as you clearly like her a great deal, hence you looking for ways to 'help' her. But the ball really is in her court now, and if she isn't replying to messages, then as @ClaudiaWinkleHam says, that in itself is a message. Your post really does sound very intense and if any of that is coming across to this woman, then she's likely to be backing away.

Cowapjn · 11/09/2021 19:42

@ClaudiaWinkleHam

In your own words… She last messaged me a couple of days ago on thursday and i replied back then heard nothing. tried ringing her she didnt answer and yesterday morning i sent her a message saying i hope she has a good time away and to message me if she wants to and she didnt reply to that either. I also sent her a letter which got delivered wednesday

Not getting a message back is a message. Move on. Leave her be.

so because i didnt get a message back i should leave it? and not getting a message back - do you not think it has something to do with all the stuff that she has going on in the last 2 weeks? her grandad passing away, a load of drama with her mum, being ill, getting abuse off someone who owes her £400 and so on?

i think if i jst completely walked away whilst she has all this going on would be pretty sh1tty of me to be honest !

OP posts:
Actupfishy · 11/09/2021 19:42

In the nicest possible way she’s not into you at all

Yummypumpkin · 11/09/2021 19:42

She sounds very confused and with issues that are not entirely the fault of others (possibly).

She ghosted you.

She's ghosting you again.

You deserve better. Please talk to other girls, spend time with friends. I think her distancing herself is triggering your fear of abandonment.

I'm sorry.

CloseYourEyesAndSee · 11/09/2021 19:44

so because i didnt get a message back i should leave it? and not getting a message back - do you not think it has something to do with all the stuff that she has going on in the last 2 weeks?

A)Yes And b) maybe, maybe not, it doesn't matter really if she doesn't want to communicate with you that's all you need to know.

ClaudiaWinkleHam · 11/09/2021 19:45

You have not just sent her one message. Read what you have said/done.

She’s not your girlfriend. If she wanted to speak to you she would. Whether she really has a lot of stuff going on or not.

Cowapjn · 11/09/2021 20:00

@ClaudiaWinkleHam

You have not just sent her one message. Read what you have said/done.

She’s not your girlfriend. If she wanted to speak to you she would. Whether she really has a lot of stuff going on or not.

She messaged me - i replied to it. she didnt reply back. i tried to ring her - she didnt answer. I sent her a quick message yesterday morning to say enjoy your weekend away its well deserved. That's it.

I completely disagree with you. I was going through an extremely tough time at christmas similar to how she is now. If me and her were dating when i was going through my tough spell, id be distant to her too and distant with most people.

If she didnt have anything going on in her life - fair enough but shes had an extremely tough time and has hit rock bottom crying all day every day and so on so if shes missed a call and a text its nothing personal, shes just going through a tough time and is now having time out from the world on holiday for the weekend with her family.

advising me to walk away and leave her for good cos she didnt reply to a message and answer the phone (2 days ago) whilst shes an emotional heartbroken emotional wreck is bad advice in my opinion - i completely disagree with you. if she gets back from her break away and shes still distant say this time next week then fair enough, red flag.

she didnt message me back at the start of this week then rang me to say sorry shes not replied and reiterated the tough time shes having being all tearful on the phone to me.

OP posts:
ClaudiaWinkleHam · 11/09/2021 20:50

She is not your girlfriend.

MinchieMoo · 11/09/2021 20:56

AS

Hen2018 · 11/09/2021 20:57

Jesus wept. Leave her alone.

Monty27 · 11/09/2021 20:59

OP this might sound a bit harsh but you're so overthinking everything.
You've had a few dates and now you want to save her.
The poor woman's probably weirded out by your persistence.

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