Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Match Maker, Match Maker, Make Me a Match

On Cup of Jo yesterday, Joanna featured an article about a mom who started a website to find a match for her adult son. Pretty unconventional, interesting, and a little bit hilarious, right?

It got me thinking - would I trust my mom to pick out a date or two or twenty for me?

The answer is yes.

I am not talking about an arranged marriage here, but I do think that my mom could pick out a suitable potential match for me. After all, she's watched me date for 10+ years. She knows what works and doesn't work. She knows what types I am attracted to. She understands that I am a bit on the melodramatic side (ahem, like crying on the phone about a cartwheeled induced ankle injury), so she understands what kind of personality a boyfriend would need to balance my high strung side.

Now, this blog post isn't a plea for my mom to put on her match making hat. For now I would like to retain control of that corner of my life. But it was interesting to think about.

On the other hand, I am not sure how I would feel about being set up with a guy by HIS mom. I feel like that would scream 'momma's boy' and I am not sure if I could date a guy like that... It just makes me think of the Sex and the City episode when the Jewish women at Charlotte's synagogue are trying to set her up with their sons and it goes miserably... (I feel like any and every situation in life can someone be related back to SATC, by the way...)

What do you think, dear readers? Would you trust your parents' match making or do you think they'd fail miserably at finding a suitable match for you? If someone wanted to set you up with their son, would you be open to that?

22 comments:

The Many Thoughts of a Reader said...

I kind of agree with you on the momma's boy thing, but at the same time. If she picked you, you would assume that you would get along cuz she wouldn't pick someone she didn't get along with! ;) I would not trust my parents judgement on someone to date, but that is because my mom would be waaay more concerned about getting me hooked up and married sos he could get grand babies. Thank god I found one on my own. ;)

I was thinking that I have a friend (that I met through livejournal back in the day) that lives in Minneapolis and has a ton of male friends. If you ever want me to hook you ladies up, I think you'd have a blast ha.

Charbelle said...

LOL I too feel that any and every life situation can be related back to SATC!!!
No I would not let my mom pick out my date, she's kind of out of touch with the dating world.

Becky said...

I would trust my mom for that, but not my dad. Not that my dad doesn't understand me, but I think my mom gets how I need to be reigned in sometimes and could find someone with a quality like that. (Does that make sense?)

abbi said...

I think I would trust my Mom. I believe she truly knows me well enough to make a good decision. But, I kind of agree with you on the flip side. The other way might be odd.

Nicole said...

My mom once tried to set me up with the IT guy from her work. She gave him my phone number. He called, and I gave him my AIM screen name. This was back in college when everyone was on all the time. He would message me as soon as I came back on. He was really creepy besides that, too. I told my mom how creepy he was and not to try to set me up anymore.

Fast forward a couple years... I find out that his guy has been arrested and charged with child solicitation. He was hitting on underage girls on their Facebook accounts. That's when I found out he was also years older than he told me.

So I realized this dude was creepy long before my mom (and her work) knew. Thankfully he was fired and no one has to see him anymore.

Amber @ A Little Pink in the Cornfields said...

I think I would let my mom pick a date for me too! She tends to think all boys are cute, where as I am a bit pickier but overall I think she has a great instinct about people (she didn't like Cy!)
This post reminds me of the movie Because I Said So with Diane Keaton and Mandy Moore. It's one of my favorites!! Have you seen it?
I agree that anything can be compared to SATC, my friends and I do it all the time!

Mandy said...

No, not even a chance. I love my mother dearly but I would not want to be set up by her. It would just end badly. The type of guy she wants me to be with, and the type guy I usually prefer are two very different visions.

And as Amber said, this reminds me of the Mandy Moore, Diane Keaton movie.

Gracie said...

Not my mom...or friends for that matter...people always tried to set me up with these strange intellectual types. I wanted to tell them "Just because I'm an artist doesn't mean I'm ok with dating the guy who makes his own toothpaste in a lab!".
However...I'm a huge fan of the online scene 'cause that's how I met my husband! Not a dating website, but Friendster - back when it was cool (before Myspace and Facebook). I liked reading what people said about themselves. People can be surprisingly honest and I felt like I knew hubby pretty well before we ever met.

Marlys said...

I don't think I would want to set you up with anyone, but I sure would let you know what I think about him, if it got serious! Most Mom's have an uncanny sense of who is right for their children! #1 reason I wouldn't want to set you up is because I don't have a bank of bachelors to pick from! I like the idea of that friendster site!

J said...

I am not sure I would let my mom set me up with anyone. My aunt tried to set me up with her friends nephew...didn't really work out. It was just weird.

Abby said...

It is completely different for a woman to be "match-made" than for a boy to be match mad.

I said boy, not man. Because yes - men need to make these decisions themselves.

I am right with you! I would totally trust Mom to have picked out my match (I think she would've picked Ryan).

But if I would've known that Ryan's parents were picking me? I would've resisted resisted annnd resisted!

However, that could just be our German stubborn-ness.....;)

Amber said...

Hmmmmm. Such a tough call. I really value my mom's opinion and I could never date someone she disapproves of (luckily she LOVES Eric, now anyways, when we were silly teenagers it was a different story :P Hehe) But anyways, my mom can also be very judgemental so I don't know for sure if I'd let her pick a match for me!!

The idea of a guy's mom doing it screams MAMA BOY to me, though. And from what I've heard from friends who are with big-time mama's boys, it is NOT FUN! Eric has a great relationship with his mom but she doesn't control every aspect of his life like some of my friends b/fs moms!

Leigh said...

I don't think I would let my dad pick someone out for me...maybe my mom. But I'm not sure she would pick someone I would like.

I would find it a little strange if I was set up on a date that the guy's mom arranged. It reminds me of the movie I Love You Man, where his mom sets him up on "man dates" to meet friends. One of the guys ends up going in to kiss him at the end of the "date". Haha

Lauren @ Sassy Molassy said...

That's interesting. My mom actually tried to set me up and didn't tell me we were meeting this guy she and her friend thought would be a good match. I thought he was cute but he seemed shy and didn't seem interested. She told me a few months later that she was trying to set us up. We did eventually end up going on a few dates, but he just wasn't ambitious enough for me. My dad has also tried to set me up with young mechanics at his work who tend to be country/outdoor guys. SO I guess I'd say they know me well, but I'm not sure they could choose the right guy (based on experience). :)

Emily Jane said...

Oh my goodness I remember when we were away in January we had a little TV in the hotel and the ONE channel we got was MTV. So naturally it was full of ridiculously compelling yet TERRIBLE FOR YOU crap. There was this one show where the kid was IN a relationship, the parents thought they could do better, and the CURRENT boyfriend sat on the couch with the girl's parents JUDGING her parents' picks as alternative partners for their daughter. !!! I definitely wouldn't trust my mum's picks lol... my dad? Maybe? Don't they say daughters are attracted to guys with similar traits as their fathers? Interesting question though!

Stephany said...

Absolutely, 100%. I trust my mom implicitly and we hold a lot of the same values & likes/dislikes. I would totally trust her to pick a mate for me.

For that matter, I would also trust my grandma! I brought this idea up to her once and yeah, totally wish I could be set up by her. She'd do me right!

Nilsa @ SoMi Speaks said...

Do you read Sizzle's blog? I love her approach to finding a serious boyfriend. She would date on her own terms and meet guys in her own ways ... but, any guy in contention for a serious relationship had to pass the muster of her Board ... a handful of friends who were allowed to ask the suitor some hard-hitting questions. And you know what? It worked. She's getting ready to move in with her boyfriend - the one who actually passed the test!

Lisa-Marie said...

I would have let my mum, yes. I think I managed ok on my own though! x

Kelly said...

Haha, I think definitely that all aspects of life can be related to sex and the city episodes- AND Friends episodes haha.

I'm not sure if I would want my mom to set me up... not sure what kind of guy she would pick haha. I could actually picture Eric's mom setting him up with me, but she is the most laid back person ever so even though Eric and his mom have a good relationship it's never an issue with us where he has to like choose between us or something.

On another note, wasn't there an MTV show about parents picking dates...Parental Control or something? haha but if I remember correctly the people already had girlfriends/boyfriends that the parents didn't like. A little trashy haha

Nora said...

Well, I have been set up with someone's son/nephew before and it didn't go so well, so I'd probably skip that.

However, I think I'd let my parents set me up if they had an interest. I don't think they do, however. They tend to be pretty laissez-faire when it comes to my dating life.

Ally said...

I'm pretty sure I wouldn't trust my mom to set me up. And I'm definitely sure I wouldn't go along with a mom trying to hook me up with her son. Awkward city!

Shoshanah said...

So funny because the way I heard about this was from my best friend. She was actually on the Today Show as an eligible girl for the son. How crazy is that?