Falling in love with someone is not in our hands same as falling out of love. Being in a relationship requires a lot of effort and adjustments. But have you wondered what it’s like dating someone younger or older than you? Though this raises an eyebrow in our society but it all comes down to compatibility between the two individuals.
People who have been in an age-gapped relationship share how they make their relationship work.
1. “Got a 14-year age gap. It’s not a problem that he’s older. We are best friends. I don’t like guys my age. He treats me like a queen. Life is what you make it, it’s not what others think. Live and let live. Enjoy your life, relationships can go wrong at any age or gap, do just go with the flow.”
2. “Eight-year gap between my boyfriend and me. Mostly it’s a non-issue since we have a lot of similar passions and we get along well. It becomes an issue when I start to feel pressured because I don’t know if I want kids but he’s closer to wanting a family. I’m not sold on marriage either. I’m currently in grad school and he’s finished and he has a well-established group of friends from that time. I don’t and it’s hard to find my friends in my own time since I don’t have my own time (school+work). Gets hard since he has a lot of free time without school and misinterprets my school time as my free time. Otherwise, we are pretty rock solid. We do communicate a lot which helps with a lot of the issues.”
3. “It depends on what you consider “large”, but I was 23 and my partner was 18 when we started dating. When we first met, it had never even crossed my mind that I would date someone more than one year older or younger than me, so I didn’t even romantically think of her at first. But as I started to get to know her, it was clear that we were the same person. So it started slowly, but gradually.”
4. “The best piece of advice I got about it was that it’s only weird if you make it weird. When people would make the inevitable comments, at first I would get defensive or try to explain. “Wait, she’s in her first year of college?” “Yeah, we met when I was [wherever].” There’s nothing at all wrong with that. Two years strong, and she rocks my world.”
5. “The first few years were a struggle because we were at different points in our lives. I wanted to party a lot more than he did. We split for a few months but realized that we did want to make it work and be together. (It’s honestly disgusting how perfect we are for each other despite the age difference.)”
6. “13-year difference, he’s older. We started dating when I was 29 and he was 42. Been together 9 years, married for 5, and have one kid. Honestly, it’s not really about the numbers but about having compatible levels of utter immaturity (we suit each other well in that regard).”
7. “We don’t have any issues and it’s not really that different from anyone else’s relationship except that we do give each other space/ time to do our own thing.”
8. “I have gravitated towards significant age differences my entire life. My first serious boyfriend when I was 17 was 25. My next was at 26, he was 39. I thought at thirty that I would end up marrying a fifty-year-old man. Instead, I ended up with a man ten years my junior. Truthfully, it has never been an issue one way or the other. My husband is ten years younger than I and we have been together for over eighteen years, married for fourteen. We are both outliers, but I believe it all boils down to the individuals.”
9. “We had a 13-year age difference. It was all good in the beginning, but eventually, it became apparent he didn’t respect my opinions, thoughts, or life experiences. In the beginning, I ignored his mental health issues and bad money habits, and general weirdness.”
10. “I quite enjoy it, he treats me right and his maturity level is tolerable. We’ve only been together for a little bit and really the biggest issue is my family not supporting it. The other negative is that I still live with one of my parents because of financial issues and so that has kind of been a difficult hurdle.”
11. “I haven’t, but my parents are over 20 years apart in age and they have an awesome and very loving relationship, so it definitely can work out great in some cases.”
12. “I have dated a girl that was 18 years my senior. There wasn’t really any difference from other relationships I have had. She was a bit more set in her ways than younger girls, that was about it.”
13. “I’m 26 and my husband is 27. We met in high school and got married six or so years ago. It’s alright but it’s kind of weird that he was born in a different decade than me.”
14. “We met in college. I was a budding senior, and I was her algebra tutor. It’s tough at times, sometimes we go to a restaurant and people ask if she wants a kid’s menu and if I’m her father. I tell them no and that she’s my girlfriend. It’s tough, but fun too. I can’t wait to take her to her senior prom in 4 years!”
15. “My husband is 12 years older than I am. There’s not much of a difference. Other than the fact that he’s way more mature than anyone else I’ve dated. The only thing that’s weird is when we think about how he was 20 while I was 8.”
Read more: Redditors Reveal 12 Of The Biggest Turn-Offs In A Relationship & We’re Taking Notes.