The Blind Date Marathon: Date 11: Daniel – the DILF (pardon the phrase)

Who set me up this time

Emma
I know Emma from college. She was always easy to talk to and we have loosely stayed in contact via facebook. It just so happened that I bumped into Emma on the train back from date 9. When she asked me what I’d been doing in London that day I hesitantly told her about my blog. Luckily for me she claimed that she knew the perfect man for date 11!

What do I know about him

Daniel was described to me as a really nice guy in his mid-twenties who has been single for a few years now. He has a young son who he spends a lot of time with. He has described himself as ‘commitment-phobic’ but says that this is partly down to his responsibilities as a parent. He has a good relationship with the mother of his son but they separated a while back. He studied mathematics at degree level and works for a well known bank.

First impressions

I told Daniel that I would happily meet him out and about but he insisted on picking me up. Not only that but he even came to my front door. Currently I am living with my family. As I was rushing out the door my 2 year old niece, who is normally very good with names, yells to me ‘Mummy, Mummy, Mummy!’ This was a bit awkward. I defensively said that I am her Auntie not her mother. Then I cringed as I remembered Daniel’s personal situation. Perhaps I would have come across a bit better if I had sounded less defensive as there’s nothing wrong with being a parent!

My first impression of Daniel was that he was great looking. Meeting a blind date at your front date could be invasive but Daniel was pretty gentlemanly and open and he came highly recommended so I didn't mind.

What happened

Daniel lives in my county so we decided to go to a local restaurant. We decided to visit a lovely little Thai restaurant by St Albans cathedral.

Conversation took the usual journey. We started on where we grew up, television, university and holidays. Naturally, we spoke about Daniel’s son quite a bit.

Daniel was not as carefree as the average university student because his son was born half way through his degree. He is very mature and responsible in comparison to me! Several people will say that it is pretty daunting to date a single parent when you are childless and in your 20s. I would agree. I can only really imagine what it is like to be a young parent but as I live with my little niece, I can tell you that she is a lot of work! Children are obviously a blessing and bring a lot of joy; I am forever thinking of new lessons, stories and games to play with my little housemate. However, although children are a massive responsibility they will inevitably take up a lot of your date’s time and energy. I absolutely think that if you like each other enough then you will be willing to accept this but its not something I could accept casually.

I enjoyed chatting with Daniel. But I did not see much chemistry between us. While I was absorbed in the light and fun conversation I felt my bag vibrate. My new HTC was ringing.

My Dad got my HTC free for me and he had given me several warnings that there is a design fault with the model. It smashes fairly easily and you have to keep it padded and be really careful not to drop it. One day I discovered that putting sanitary towels in the compartment of my bag where I keep my mobile is a good way of insulating my apparently fragile phone. And this stops me being paranoid about it breaking. As I foraged for my mobile I did not realise that I had taken the sanitary towels out of my bag and was flapping them around over the dinner table. I noticed that Daniel was staring at me with awkward confusion. It suddenly dawned on me that, unfortunately, I was waving sanitary towels in my blind date’s face! Obviously sanitary towels have a good purpose in life but there is a time and a place for them. This was not it. I felt the need to explain myself. “I keep these in my bag because there’s a design fault with my phone!” I said. Daniel butted in half sarcastically, “are you telling me your phone has periods?!” This was a little embarrassing but it did at least cut the tension.

As you may have gathered from earlier posts, I am a bit of a bit of an irresponsible, commitment-phobic goof. For this reason I would always think twice before dating a single parent. But I am not totally opposed. I genuinely really enjoyed my time with Daniel. He is good looking, polite and easy to talk to. I admire the fact that Daniel takes parenthood as wholeheartedly as everyone ideally should. Daniel was mature and good humoured throughout the evening. I am happy that Emma recommended him!

We said a nice goodbye. He text me that it would be nice to see each other again and wished me good luck with the rest of the dates.

Would I go out with him again?

Maybe. But I think we are more suited as friends.

What do other people say?

Mixed responses. Most people say we sound like friendship material.

Would I recommend him to a friend?

Yes

Date Planning 7

Rapport 7

Sweetness 9

This was date 11 of my dating marathon. The dare was to do 20. Click on the links below to read the rest of my dates:

Date 1: A – Full frontal nudity