I have a knack for dating douchebags. I don’t do it on purpose!

But because I’m a nurturing person who likes to fix things, I think I naturally gravitate toward less-than-stellar dudes. And I’m stubborn so if someone says “He’s no good for you,” then I’m going to be like “Well, I’ll show you!”

My college boyfriend was not the best person. And by not the best, I mean actually a bad guy. He treated me like dirt.

I slowly started to become the complete opposite of myself trying to make a very toxic relationship work. I started giving up on things that I wanted to do with my life, things I dreamed of since I was a kid.

My parents vehemently did not like this guy and were not shy about it at all. But stubborn, I fought to the death to defend my relationship even though I myself didn’t think it was worth defending.

I was defending a person who brought me down, who emotionally and verbally abused me. Someone who just blatantly didn’t care about my well-being or hopes and dreams. It didn’t make sense to me, and it definitely didn’t make sense to my parents.

Generally, my dad avoids talking about sex and relationships with me. He usually leaves those conversations to my mom.

But when I do have those conversations with him, he always gives the best advice that usually ends with a Seinfeld quote. My boyfriend had come home with me for a week after a tornado ripped through our college town. After he left, things went downhill. We had a huge fight where he said a lot of things that I can’t even repeat.

I like to sit in the kitchen when my dad cooks, even though he always makes me chop onions. That and watching Food Network together is usually how we bond. I was being pretty quiet, and he knew I was upset but didn’t want to pry. He also knew that telling me I was dating a jerk wasn’t the right thing to say. Instead he told me something that has stuck with me since that moment:

My dad said I should be with someone who makes me the best version of myself. He said that my mom makes him the absolute best person that he can be (AW!) and that’s how he knew it was right.

At that point in time, watching my dad cook and talk so lovingly about my mom made something click in my head. I realized I wanted that in the future. I wanted to be able to talk to my kids and say that their dad made me the best version of myself.

It wasn’t too long after that conversation that I ended my toxic relationship and stopped dating douchebags. Thanks to my dad, I will never let someone treat my heart like monkey meat again.

Have your parents ever given you relationship advice? Did it help? Tell me in the comments!
 

How my mom convinced me I wasn’t a slut

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