They are allowed to have friends of the opposite sex.

In fact, you should want them to. Ladies, do you want your guy ONLY getting advice from his potato head friends?!? “I dunno bro, I’d break up with her, relationships are soooOOoo much work. Wanna play GTA?” Yeah, not ideal. And guys, do you want your girl ONLY getting advice from her overdramatic friends? “Ugh just ignore him, honey! The silent treatment always works.” Yikes! Point is, you want to be able to go to friends of the opposite sex for advice. If you don’t trust them to have those friends, then why are you with them anyway?

YOU ARE NOT THEIR PARENT.

This is in caps for a reason! You were not in the room when they were born, you did not change their diapers, you have no right to tell them what they can and can’t do. They can wear what they want, they can go where they want, and they can do anything and everything without your permission. Call your guy ‘Daddy’ or your girl ‘mama,’ as long as they’re not acting like one.

You don’t have to do everything together.

So many people end up losing themselves in relationships. You need to maintain who you are and not lose sight of that. If you don’t, and things don’t work out, you will have lost everything. You will have to grow and find yourself all over again, and that can be a long, lonely, and scary process.

Always make time for your friends.

We’ve all seen this happen. Our friend gets in a relationship, and poof, they have suddenly fallen off the face of the earth. The only proof of their existence is the millions upon millions of pictures of the two of them online. “Saw a puppy while out with bae!” “First ice cream cone with the LOML!” You all know what I mean.

For God’s sake, they are allowed to like other peoples’ pictures.

A double tap does not mean they’re having sex with each other. It means they’re friends. There are more important things going on in the world to worry about like mass genocide and starvation. Be a no drama llama whenever possible.

Give them the benefit of the doubt.

You love them, right? Assume the best. Don’t jump to conclusions and assume they’re cheating if they don’t respond to your text in .02 seconds, just take a chill pill. There are so many other things that are most likely to blame for them not responding. You owe them that instead of expecting the absolute worst from them.

This one may not be obvious, but DON’T CHEAT.

You love your person, you like your person, you never want to hurt your person, and you sure as hell don’t want to lose your person. So just don’t do it.

No matter how much you love them, make sure you love yourself more. This is one I never do, and one I always regret most.