{"id":19400,"date":"2019-11-08T10:00:31","date_gmt":"2019-11-08T18:00:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/datemixstaging.wpengine.com\/?p=19400"},"modified":"2021-05-31T08:29:41","modified_gmt":"2021-05-31T15:29:41","slug":"define-the-relationship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.zoosk.com\/date-mix\/online-dating-tips\/define-the-relationship\/","title":{"rendered":"An Updated Guide to Defining the Relationship"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

These days, whether you\u2019ve met on a dating app or in person, the line between casual and serious is blurrier than ever. Maybe you’ve met their friends, or even family. In this day and age, all that means nothing.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are so many different levels of dating that you should never make an assumption. Whatever the timeline, it\u2019s important to get on the same page. For some people, it might be a month, for others it\u2019s six. Whatever you do, before you start lobbing labels, define the relationship. Here are the best tips to follow on how. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Get Consent
\n<\/b>Of course, this applies to physical romance, but it does for definitions, too. Before you start calling them your girlfriend, make sure they\u2019re thinking of you in the same terms. Things will get awkward real quick if they hear that label without a conversation first. The best way to do this one? Just ask. It can be a quick sitdown conversation. That\u2019s it.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Respect Their Values
\n<\/b>Polyamory and non-monogamy are not new concepts, but they\u2019ve recently spiked in popularity. If you\u2019re with someone poly or non-monog, it\u2019s a good idea to discuss how that will play into your relationship.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you don\u2019t want your partner to be seeing other people, that\u2019s something you need to figure out from the get-go. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Define Your Timeline
\n<\/b>The millennial generation has redefined how dating and marriage. Before, everyone would get married, have two and a half kids, buy a home, and retire on a strict timeline. That\u2019s no longer a steadfast reality.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When you\u2019ve been dating for a few months, it\u2019s not necessarily the right time to have those conversations anymore, although it could be. Decide what you want and when you want it and see if you can come to a compromise with your partner. If so, great. If not, you may decide whether the relationship works for you.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Talk About It
\n<\/b>Get your feelings out there. It doesn\u2019t matter the medium, whether that\u2019s text, Facebook message, or in person. You need to have a conversation about your feelings. Even in casual contexts, it\u2019s important.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Be Honest
\n<\/b>Leading a conversation with what you want is really important. It’s absolutely necessary to hear what your partner thinks and feels as well, but there are too many people in situationships who would rather be in relationships. If you want to be exclusive, say that. If you want to see other people but still see each other, say that. If you are falling in love and really think this could be a solid, long-lasting thing, say that! Your feelings matter in this conversation. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Respect Their Wishes
\n<\/b>This one\u2019s simple: if they don’t want the same things you want, respect their honesty and decide where to go from there. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Celebrate
\n<\/b>So you’re on the same page? Great! Celebrate this union however you want\u2014by going out to dinner, staying in, posting a cute Instagram picture together. Whatever it is, let yourself be happy. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Defining the relationship can be a natural transition, for some couples. For others, it can be messy, confusing, and ultimately disappointing, but that\u2019s part of it. If you need to have the \u201cwhat are we\u201d conversation, then you need to. Listen to your gut and have the conversation.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

These days, relationships have many phases, most of them undefined. If you know what you want, here’s how to ask for it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":144,"featured_media":19401,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[980],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19400","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-online-dating-tips"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nAn Updated Guide to Defining the Relationship<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"These days, relationships have many phases, most of them undefined. If you know what you want, here's how to ask for it.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.zoosk.com\/date-mix\/online-dating-tips\/define-the-relationship\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"An Updated Guide to Defining the Relationship\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"These days, relationships have many phases, most of them undefined. If you know what you want, here's how to ask for it.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.zoosk.com\/date-mix\/online-dating-tips\/define-the-relationship\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Date Mix\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Zoosk\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-11-08T18:00:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-05-31T15:29:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/dq1eylutsoz4u.cloudfront.net\/2019\/11\/06075300\/define-the-relationship.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jessica Tholmer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@https:\/\/twitter.com\/tholmz\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Zoosk\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jessica Tholmer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"An Updated Guide to Defining the Relationship","description":"These days, relationships have many phases, most of them undefined. If you know what you want, here's how to ask for it.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.zoosk.com\/date-mix\/online-dating-tips\/define-the-relationship\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"An Updated Guide to Defining the Relationship","og_description":"These days, relationships have many phases, most of them undefined. If you know what you want, here's how to ask for it.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.zoosk.com\/date-mix\/online-dating-tips\/define-the-relationship\/","og_site_name":"The Date Mix","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Zoosk\/","article_published_time":"2019-11-08T18:00:31+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-05-31T15:29:41+00:00","og_image":[{"width":800,"height":600,"url":"https:\/\/dq1eylutsoz4u.cloudfront.net\/2019\/11\/06075300\/define-the-relationship.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Jessica Tholmer","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@https:\/\/twitter.com\/tholmz","twitter_site":"@Zoosk","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Jessica Tholmer","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.zoosk.com\/date-mix\/online-dating-tips\/define-the-relationship\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.zoosk.com\/date-mix\/online-dating-tips\/define-the-relationship\/"},"author":{"name":"Jessica Tholmer","@id":"https:\/\/www.zoosk.com\/date-mix\/#\/schema\/person\/41d17a6c4f83a6ec96a787cab6259b2a"},"headline":"An Updated Guide to Defining the Relationship","datePublished":"2019-11-08T18:00:31+00:00","dateModified":"2021-05-31T15:29:41+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.zoosk.com\/date-mix\/online-dating-tips\/define-the-relationship\/"},"wordCount":573,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.zoosk.com\/date-mix\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.zoosk.com\/date-mix\/online-dating-tips\/define-the-relationship\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/dq1eylutsoz4u.cloudfront.net\/2019\/11\/06075300\/define-the-relationship.jpg","articleSection":["Online Dating Tips"],"inLanguage":"en"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.zoosk.com\/date-mix\/online-dating-tips\/define-the-relationship\/","url":"https:\/\/www.zoosk.com\/date-mix\/online-dating-tips\/define-the-relationship\/","name":"An Updated Guide to Defining the Relationship","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.zoosk.com\/date-mix\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.zoosk.com\/date-mix\/online-dating-tips\/define-the-relationship\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.zoosk.com\/date-mix\/online-dating-tips\/define-the-relationship\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/dq1eylutsoz4u.cloudfront.net\/2019\/11\/06075300\/define-the-relationship.jpg","datePublished":"2019-11-08T18:00:31+00:00","dateModified":"2021-05-31T15:29:41+00:00","description":"These days, relationships have many phases, most of them undefined. If you know what you want, here's how to ask for it.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.zoosk.com\/date-mix\/online-dating-tips\/define-the-relationship\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.zoosk.com\/date-mix\/online-dating-tips\/define-the-relationship\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en","@id":"https:\/\/www.zoosk.com\/date-mix\/online-dating-tips\/define-the-relationship\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/dq1eylutsoz4u.cloudfront.net\/2019\/11\/06075300\/define-the-relationship.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/dq1eylutsoz4u.cloudfront.net\/2019\/11\/06075300\/define-the-relationship.jpg","width":800,"height":600},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.zoosk.com\/date-mix\/online-dating-tips\/define-the-relationship\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.zoosk.com\/date-mix\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Online Dating Tips","item":"https:\/\/www.zoosk.com\/date-mix\/online-dating-tips\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"An Updated Guide to Defining the Relationship"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.zoosk.com\/date-mix\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.zoosk.com\/date-mix\/","name":"The Date Mix","description":"Dating and Relationship Advice for Today's Daters","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.zoosk.com\/date-mix\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.zoosk.com\/date-mix\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.zoosk.com\/date-mix\/#organization","name":"The Date Mix","url":"https:\/\/www.zoosk.com\/date-mix\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en","@id":"https:\/\/www.zoosk.com\/date-mix\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.zoosk.com\/date-mix\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/TDM-logo.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.zoosk.com\/date-mix\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/TDM-logo.jpg","width":400,"height":400,"caption":"The Date Mix"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.zoosk.com\/date-mix\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Zoosk\/","https:\/\/x.com\/Zoosk"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.zoosk.com\/date-mix\/#\/schema\/person\/41d17a6c4f83a6ec96a787cab6259b2a","name":"Jessica Tholmer","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en","@id":"https:\/\/www.zoosk.com\/date-mix\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.zoosk.com\/date-mix\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/avatar_user_144_1523036480-96x96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.zoosk.com\/date-mix\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/avatar_user_144_1523036480-96x96.jpg","caption":"Jessica Tholmer"},"description":"Jessica Tholmer has been writing on the internet for what feels like most of her life. After studying English Literature in school, she has leaned into her degree and is a full-time content writer, social media manager, and freelance contributor to websites like HelloGiggles.com. You can find her on Twitter and Instagram! Jessica has been working with Zoosk to create unique, insightful content around various topics related to online dating, love, and relationships.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/tholmz\/?hl=en","https:\/\/x.com\/https:\/\/twitter.com\/tholmz"],"url":"https:\/\/www.zoosk.com\/date-mix\/author\/jessica-tholmer\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zoosk.com\/date-mix\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19400","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zoosk.com\/date-mix\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zoosk.com\/date-mix\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zoosk.com\/date-mix\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/144"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zoosk.com\/date-mix\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19400"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.zoosk.com\/date-mix\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19400\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zoosk.com\/date-mix\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19401"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zoosk.com\/date-mix\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19400"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zoosk.com\/date-mix\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19400"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zoosk.com\/date-mix\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19400"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}