There’s a time to play the field and date around. But most people want to leave that field, settle down, and commit to one life partner at some point. It’s awesome to discover that you’ve been pouring time and effort into a relationship in which you mean as much to your partner as he means to you. How do you know that he thinks you’re “The One” for him?
Here are 13 signs that show he’s thinking about spending the rest of his life committed to you:
- You factor into his conversations about the future. Whether he’s planning your vacation next summer or mulling over where he wants to live five years from now, you’re the one that will be with him. He treats it as a given that you’ll be in his plans.
- He likes to keep house with you. You spend every weekend over at his place, or together at yours. You both have two sets of pajamas, toiletries, and towels, one at your home and one stashed away for sleepovers at the other’s. He gets involved when it’s time to go grocery shopping, and you have fun cooking and eating together.
- His significant life decisions are made with you in mind. Nobody likes moving to a new home. You don’t decide to move closer to somebody because you have intense physical chemistry. If he arranges his life around you, or turns down a job he’d have to relocate to accept, he’s showing you that he wants you in his life for the long term.
- You’re expected to attend family gatherings together. You’re not legally part of the family yet, but that doesn’t mean you can’t be treated as though you are. His family members don’t even extend a separate invitation to you anymore when it’s time to celebrate holidays and birthdays. They all just assume you’ll be there, and they’d be genuinely disappointed if you didn’t. If his parents are disappointed when he shows up without you, you can be sure a commitment is on the horizon.
- He works “our kids” into your conversations. It doesn’t matter if the context involves naming them Robin and Raven after the Teen Titans characters. What matters is that he’s given thought to starting a family with you, and is comfortable enough with you to talk about it.
- He maintains contact with your family members. He’s thrown himself into the proverbial lion’s den that is your family and is working on building relationships with you. Only a guy who’s considering staying with you for the long haul would friend your parents on social media.
- He takes your pet peeves into consideration. He understands that the two of you will be sharing a place someday, so if you’ve mentioned that it annoys you when he doesn’t put things back where they belong, or that he owns too many gadgets, he makes a conscious effort to break those habits.
- Your relationships involve commitments. Maybe you got a new dog together, or bought a house together. These are different types of commitments, but the reasoning underlying them is the same: He assumes you’ll be together for a long time.
- Sharing everything makes breaking up a lot more complicated. So, if “his stuff” and “my stuff” has become “our stuff,” and everything that’s yours is his and vice versa, his life and your life become “our life.” Shared things are almost as binding as an engagement ring.
- Nobody’s romantic all the time, but he tries to keep things passionate and still tries to surprise you. He makes it a point to bring you flowers or to plan date nights because he doesn’t want your relationship to settle into a groove.
- He sticks with you through tough times. Anybody who doesn’t want to be in a serious relationship will bail if troubles arise. If he stays with you to work through issues, it’s because this problem pales in comparison to the magnitude of his feelings for you.
- He tells you that he wants to marry you. It may seem unromantic to exclude the surprise factor and discuss your engagement, but it’s actually quite practical. It keeps you from wondering if he’ll ever propose. This one is simple. If he says he wants to marry you, he’s going to propose.
- Your well-being is just as important to him as his own, so he encourages you to achieve your goals. He wants you to grow and attain true happiness with him by your side.