“Madonna is 55, her boyfriend is 22. JLo is 42, her boyfriend is 26. Tina Turner is 75, her boyfriend is 40….Still Single? RELAX!!! Your ‘soulmate’ isn’t born yet.”
It happened AGAIN, when I least expected it, yours truly was asked to go out on another date tonight. Seriously, if you want to jumpstart your love life, go on a holiday from dating. Somehow it has a magnetic pull, drawing everyone and their brother asking you out for “a few drinks” or “dinner”. Perhaps, the mystery of my “manbattical”, in itself allures the curious and determined male mind.
To refresh your memory, a manbattical is an extended period of time where a woman purposely refrains from dating and/or having sex with men. January marks four months of my sabattical from men. With my crazy schedule in the next upcoming weeks, it wouldn’t surprise me if I make it to six months of taking a break from dating.
Honestly, with my trip to Asia in two months, with a less than a handful of graduate courses left, to complete my M.Ed., training for the CrossFit Open (coming soon to a blog near you), overwhelming special needs teacher paper, soccer and swimming lessons for my munchkin, coordinating coparenting schedules with my ex husband’s crazy busy work schedule, writing the blog, basically there is little room for dating in my life.
Sure, I could probably squeeze in a fun date or two here and there, but there just ain’t time for a serious commitment. Could I make time for it? Sure, if it was a priority, or I met someone who knocked my socks off, but presently that is not the case.
Not that I do not want to go on a nice date. I would absolutely love it, but I am being more selective and it just has to feel right in my bones. Again, I am not ready to dive head first in the dating pool, maybe test the waters with my toes.
Anyhoooo, back to me being asked on a date, by no other than a sweet early twenty-something military fella. Clearly, 23 is my lucky number, because in the last month, three very cute 23 year old men asked me out to dinner. What is going on?
Wondering to myself, where is this coming from? When did I turn into a cougar? Weren’t cougars much older? Maybe I was a puma? So many rules to cougardom.
Next month, I will be turning the big 37 years young. Where were all these men when I was 23? Oh, yah, they were in the fourth GRADE, YA’LL.
Wait. Wait. Wait. Hold up for a second. Am I officially of courage age? When did I become Mrs. Robinson or Stifler’s Mom?
According to my cousin, there is a formula for determining if you are a cougar. A woman must take her age, divide it by two and add seven. Anything less is cougar territory. Nah. Let’s do the math…
37 / 2 = 18.5
18.5 +7 = 25.5
Cicily + 23 year old = HOLY SH*T, I ‘M A COUGAR!?!?!
ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAARRRRRRR…
To date younger men, is nothing new to me. In fact, the majority of men, I have dated are younger than me. If my suitors, were plotted on a bell curve, 30 years old would be dead center, with straglers in their early twenties and mid forties on opposite ends.
Usually, most men my age, are divorced and dating women in their late 20s. Even one of my closest male friends, admits he refuses to date women my age, because we have “issues” and our younger counter parts do not. Guess what, everyone has issues, doesn’t matter whatever your birthdate may be.
Men never think twice about dating a younger woman, but it has been fairly taboo in our culture, until fairly recently. Now we have television shows called Cougar Town, Hollywood starlets dating men decades younger than themselves and a society discarding outdated beliefs on dating rules in terms of age.
Heff Can Do It, I Can Too
Sexy Hot Boyfriend???
Cougar sightings are everywhere now, from JLO and Madonna to your divorced sister entering the world of online dating. Even a certain blogger you may know. Wink. Wink.
Recently, a girlfriend of mine, who just went through a divorce last year, was asked to go on a coffee date with a MUCH younger man. At first, balking at the notion, of going to date younger man, just as I had done years earlier. When she asked me what did I think she should do, I told her she should absolutely go.
If a nice, cute guy wants to take you out for coffee, dinner or a fun date, you should go. Why should an arbitrary number hold you back from having a great time!
After having dated a much, much, much younger man, I must say, you have to have at least tried it once. Younger men are attentive, hot, flirty, fun and have lots of… AHEM…energy…yeah…let’s call it “energy”. You know, for activities….like “hiking.”.. What did you think I was talking about? Oh, you dirty bird. 😉
Men do it all the time. Look at Jack Nicholson, that old kook, still a ladies man. Didn’t he just hit on Jennifer Lawrence at the Oscars? Why can’t we have our fun too?
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJmhsJ5T5L0?rel=0]
Jack’s STILL Smooth!!!
Have you ever wondered why younger men like older women? Well, I will tell you exactly from the mouth of babes, because I asked several of them, what was the appeal of an older “cougar”.
Each one shared, that the confidence of an older woman is intoxicating. She is never needy, knows what she wants, takes what she wants inside and outside the bedroom, handles her business like a boss and has a sex drive of an 18 year old boy.
If that is the definition of a cougar, well, then sign me up, because who wouldn’t want to be confident,fun, independent and a sexy woman!
So for all you ladies, wondering where are all the good men, maybe it is time to expand your horizon, break your own dating rules and “pounce” on the opportunity to date a younger man for a change.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZLfasMPOU4?rel=0]
I Still Got It Going On….
What is your dating age range on your dating profiles?
Have you ever dated a younger man?
Do you like dating older women? (men folk)
Love,
Sweet Cicily
Absolutely! If…I was single I would be all over a younger man. Go girl!! Or should I say go Miss Cougar? Great post, Cicily. Enjoyed Stacy’s mom video. Its my Beau’s favorite, too.
I feel a lot of older men feel like they can control us, or try, because they are older and know more. Um….no thank you, been down that road. My boyfriend of about 2 years is just shy of 10 years younger than I am. He likes that I am more settled and out of the “partying” age of needing to live at the bar. Plus, he doesn’t want more children and neither do I. We have so much in common we forget our age difference sometimes. Then….a song or tv show will come up and he will comment he was in grade school or jr. high when it came out while I was in college. Then we both laugh. I think age is just a number and it is more about your stage or frame of mind. For there to be a connection, both of you need to be on the same level. Aside from that, go have fun. Good luck. rOOOaaarrr.
@Bella’sChronicles I could not agree more. Aside from popular culture references, age does not really factor into dating for me.
I am at the point, where I am not sure if I want more children. Dating men who are either, “not ready” or past the point of having more, is most ideal and appealing to me. It will take someone spectacular to change my mind on this one.
Go you with the younger man and the great relationship! Have fun my cougar sister! 😉
@LisaThomson Yes, that song is super cute! Just because I am a mom, doesn’t mean I don’t have it going on. Thanks for always reading and have a great day!
So funny. I signed up again on OkCupid, and a crazy number of young’uns have contacted me. It’s flattering, and it makes me giggle….but I have no interest whatsoever. Maybe I’m the anomoly? Do I *look* like a cougar? Hysterical!
I’ve still got it going on, but I really want a partner I can relate to, and I strongly prefer someone my own age. My age range is +5 and -5 years from my age (currently 44). My last partner was crazy hot and two years older than I am…they’re harder to find, but they’re out there!
I will say – I also don’t want to date someone much older than I am. Guys who are in the empty nest stage have a totally different lifestyle than I do.
My preference? Someone a couple years younger (like 2-3 years younger), who can keep up with me. 😉
Heck yeah! Woohoo!! I say have fun!