A bunch of people online recently got into a discussion about having friends of the opposite sex when you’re in a relationship. And some people said it’s NEVER appropriate. But a lot of people said it’s fine, as long as you put a few guidelines in place first. Here are the top four they came up with:
1. Agree on appropriate boundaries. Like maybe you’re not allowed to talk about certain things with them, like sex. Or maybe you can’t do things alone together, you have to be in a group. Whatever the boundaries are, you need to agree on them.
2. Give each other the benefit of the doubt, and expect it in return. Or in other words, trust the person you’re with, and expect them to trust you. But obviously if you BETRAY that trust, you’ll have issues.
3. Include each other. Meaning you should all hang out TOGETHER sometimes, so you’re ALL friends. And if you’re hanging out alone with a friend of the opposite sex, always tell the other person.
4. Make sure there’s no double standard. Meaning if you’re a guy with female friends, your wife or girlfriend should be allowed to have guy friends. You’ll have problems if you do it any other way.
(PopSugar)
