Now that the fun holiday Halloween is over, it’s time to start focusing on the big ones. Suppose you met somebody dressed up as a naughty Katniss or Christian Grey at the bars this past weekend, there’s now a ‘gray’ area of whether it’s the right time to start a relationship. There are definitely some benefits to having a significant other around Thanksgiving and Christmas but there are also some pitfalls. Let’s weigh them out to see if you’ll be home snuggling by the fire these holidays or out at the bars drinking some more pa-rum-rum-rum-rum.

Pros of Dating During the Holidays

• It’s Nice to Have Somebody – If there’s anything that Lifetime Holiday movies have taught us it’s that you will be looked upon as a sad, lonely, loser if you aren’t dating during Christmas. When your family pairs off into couples for games you’ll get the old, ‘oh, you can just be on our team’ spiel. Plus if you like Christmas Caroling, visiting holiday light displays, or just snuggling and watching Christmas Vacation it’s better with somebody by your side.
• More Things to Do – The person you’re dating will probably have a couple Christmas parties to go to in the weeks before December 25 and free booze during the week is a great way to break up the stress of the holidays.
• Your Family Will Pester Somebody Else – The more Thanksgiving and Christmas gatherings you go to solo, the more your family will start to question if you’ll ever be in a relationship. There’s definitely nothing wrong with being single but most of them grew up in the time when you were married by 17 and had grandkids by age 35.
• More Presents – Even if the relationship doesn’t last, you can get plenty of wear out of that new sweater… even if it’s just as kindling to start a bonfire to burn every memory of your time together.

Cons of Dating During the Holidays

• Do You Ask Them to Your Family Gatherings? – If you start dating in the two or three weeks leading up to Thanksgiving, there comes a slippery slope about whether you invite them to meet your family. In the Spring and Summer you can date for almost half a year before even thinking about bringing your significant other home but the Holidays are a whole different ballgame.
• Harder to Break Up – Suppose you meet somebody on Halloween night but find out after 5 weeks of dating that you hate every single thing about them. It would take a real Grinch to dump somebody two weeks before Christmas and instead you’ll have to ruin your own holidays because Tagalong Ted or Tanya won’t leave you alone. If you were to date that same person in March you could just text them ‘it’s over’ and be on with your day.
• Costs More – Even if the person that you just met turns out to be your soulmate, if they could chill until like January 10 it would save you a lot of money. They’ll probably want to spend 4-5 days together going out as a couple on Thanksgiving weekend and then you’ve got the whole month of December shopping with them as they find “one last thing.” This doesn’t even take into account what you have to spend on the presents for them, even though you barely know them.

There’s a definitive code that you don’t fall in love between February 10 and 13 but November and December is up to each individual. Maybe you’ll look back and say “I’m so glad we decided to spend our first of twenty-five holidays together that year” or you might be sifting through old family Christmas photos and say, “who the hell is that?”