Date Etiquette
by Esther Duhacek / ga03052007
 

 
I asked my Laurel's what they wanted to do for class activities and they all said, go on a date or eat food. It's been a bit frustrating lately but what I realize is that we need to work with what they give you.

So, I decided to let them have a date night activity and they were allowed to bring a boy/guy friend (one of them did not have a "boyfriend", so she invited a friend - it was actually cute because it was her 1st date (even though he was a friend) she was definitely beaming! ). Like the other YW, I brought a date as well! The Young Women didn't know what to expect other than we were having date night. My husband and I requested that each couple bring $2 ($1 per person) and we would meet in the kitchen after opening exercises.

I think the activity was basic date etiquette: We covered the following things:

What is a date
What is appropriate / not appropriate
Cost
Other Ideas to do that are fun?

Here is what we did:

Told them that with the money we collected would go towards purchase of a meal. They (without mine and hubby's help) had to buy a meal that would feed all 10 of us. (Remember we have only $10 - so it was very limited). We set rules .. it had to be a real meal!  They couldn't do something too simple and basic - it can't be chips and dip or mac and cheese .. it had to be a real meal and they only had 30 minutes before we needed to be back to the chapel.

We gave them the safety first, it's not a race, drive safely talk and then drove (prior permission) 2 couples per vehicle to a grocery store (we took them to a store here called "Aldi's") Very appropriate for youth age! I was kind of amazed that most of them had not been there before because the comments coming from them were .. WOW this is cheap, I'm coming here next time I need to bring something to a party - type comments.

My group opted on making breakfast. They were able to get eggs, sausage, waffles, syrup, margarine, and milk (forgot about the cookies for dessert .. which we did say was a requirement). We had each couple help with any preparation & cooking. The YM washed and cleaned the dishes. As we were cooking & eating. We talked about proper date etiquette. Asked them what thought that meant? Had them give ideas on what we should do. They gave input and asked us questions. We shared some of our own experiences. They asked about manners (opening door, standing up at the table when a YW leaves, or pulling out their chair, etc). Then we talked about finance. We reminded them how easy it was to pull our money together to get a great meal. We reminded them that at the age they are at .. that group date is very essential .. so single dating shouldn't be in their vocabulary anyway and expensive dating isn't really necessary at this age it should be about fun and getting to know different people. It really was a good activity.

The thing is .. it was their idea. Sometimes you have to mold them, sometimes you have to read between the lines and see what they are saying. I may have planned the bulk but it really wasn't much. In the end they did all the work. Now, this won't happen on every activity but on this one, for me anyway, it was to be done because I used what they spoke about.