Many parents are either fearful of their teens dating or wishing they’d get out and be social. We discussed this very topic all week in our Instagram Community, and I’m delighted to have Ruby Franke from 8 Passengers on the podcast today sharing some gems!
8 Passengers
Ruby Franke started her YouTube channel, 8 Passengers in 2015, and shares ways to inspire motherhood. She has 6 kids (3 teens) and I really loved our chat all about teens and dating! Ruby is a very intentional mother, and if you haven’t seen her videos, you may just want to tune in! She shared with me her 3 pillars that she focuses on in her online space:
- Inspiring Mothers
- Strengthening Home and Family
- Validating the everyday normal
I just love that focus, and having binged watched a bunch of their vlogs since I discovered her, I can confirm their focus is all 3. They have been preparing their kids for dating since they were little, teaching personal accountability.
We discussed how I did a search and found she and her husband talking about how they met. If you’d like to watch Ruby’s love story, do that here: Love Story
Over the years, I’ve also shared my love story with my community, and if you’d like to read about my Love Story, you can do that here: Love Story
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Other dating points we discussed in our chat:
- Kindness
- Shame
- Numbness
- Choosing variety
- Group dates
- Expectations
- 3 most important on the marriage list
On Instagram today, I mentioned “the list” she made as a teen, and she shared that with us here! (At the top are boys names she liked/dated and she assessed if they met her standards).
She shares in our chat that she had regular talks with her dad, and created her list after those discussions. Some of the qualities on her LIST as a teen were:
- smell good
- prays daily
- disciplined
- eagle scout
- car clean
- wants 6 kids
- crazy about me
- ambitious
- has good hair
- likes old people
- wears collard shirts
- good with children
- cheerful
- likes music
She also has the very right column for herself, because if she expected it of a future husband, she knew she had to have those qualities herself.
When I asked her if she’d encourage her kids to make a long list like this, she said she emphasizes 3 main points that she hopes her kids will keep in mind when they are dating to marry:
- Is this person personally responsible for themselves?
- Are they emotionally honest in what they say and think?
- Are they humble and listen with humility?
Love this fabulous family picture, I LOVE big families!
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