'Go out and have fun...' - GRRRRRRR

Well, I'm biased, as I know more than one lesbian couple with kids who are great parents. Nuff said. People are people, plain and simple, with different tastes in lifestyle. To pigeonhole is to ally yourself with Satan, IMO.

What is your view on people saying 'go out and have fun,' seeing long term relationships as strangling...

Screw 'em if they are becoming a nuisance.

Not literally, just in the vernacular use of the word.

I would imagine that some lesbian couples make great parents and some make terrible parents. The only disadvantage I could see with a lesbian couple is not having a male parent as a role model or the potential for teasing in school. However, these are the same issues a child could have in a single parent home or one where the male parent is absent a good part of the time, or where the male parent is abusive, etc. As far as teasing, this also happens to children with glasses, that are too tall, too short, too thin, too fat, has red hair, has curly hair, or anything else that children can think of as a reason to tease.

I used to enjoy them quite a lot. These days, they just make me jealous. I'm just not cut out for it any more. (If I'd known I'd turn so dull, I'd have capitalized on a lot more opportunities.)

As far as long-term relationships--and the success of long-term relationships a lot depends on the age and maturity of the individuals involved.

Yeah, my first reaction is that this is far less a gay/ straight thing than an age thing. I was in a very very intense, loving, rewarding, but rather insular relationship from 18 to 20. People were always telling me that -- you're too young! Go out! Party! Have fun! I scoffed at their insensitive, shallow imprecations and stayed home with my true love.

It was a very good, instructive relationship in a lot of ways, but 18-20 is this gap in my life. He's the only one who shares memories from that time, basically. (We're still in sporadic contact.) Without downplaying the importance and the rewards of a long-term relationship, I think that it's important to not get too wrapped up, at any age really, but especially if you're new to the relationship game.

I've seen the products of these relationships and often they are gender neutral, i.e. "shmans". I'm not a big fan of shmans.

And I think it's safe to say shmans are not a fan of you. :-D

(What does that have to do with "go out and have fun", though?)

And I'm supposed to care Sozobe?

Ideally, by the time you reach retirement age, you should be able to tell yourself, "I made my own mistakes--and because of/in spite of my mistakes, I'm a magnificient human being.

People are living longer lives. If you choose set up housekeeping with an exclusive other in your teens and then sow wild oats at 40, fine--as long as children are not involved.

'Course not, cjhsa. Just, so what? You have no use for them, they have no use for you.

Amen, Noddy.

I agree that relationships should be obsessive or consuming as this can sometimes be worse than one night stands and the effect they have etc... that's the thing - we're very individual confident people who live together, and have done for a couple of years, I love it and have no desire to have the fun people think is so much better...

Hmmm...everyone to their own though, can't argue with that!