Natasha is in the qualifying stage of dating. Her French beau recently forwarded her an article on the 11 differences between dating a boy versus a man – he means business.

It was easy to identify who from our past fell into the boy category [Graffiti Boy, TV Presenter  and the Lawyer to name a few of mine].

Hot Danish is a man on all 11 counts. Admittedly, there are a few grey areas. Take number three of the aforementioned feature. We were recently enjoying a very grown-up dinner at Kinloch House Hotel in Perthshire. After we’d retired to the lounge with a G&T (for me) and Lagavulin (for him), the subject of the girlfriend of one of his friend’s came up. She had blanked me when her boyfriend, Michael, tried to introduce us at a recent party. I was concerned that HD hadn’t acknowledged the incident when I brought it up a few days later. ‘I would have defended you if I’d known,’ HD said quickly before admitting he had noticed the slight. What he was more concerned about was why she had done it. ‘I have never met her before so she really didn’t have a reason,’ I said.
‘Perhaps it was because Michael came to ours for dinner without her.’
‘But she was invited and Michael said she had to work late that evening.’ HD wouldn’t give up. Finally I said, ‘Perhaps it is because she thinks I’m prettier than her.’ HD beamed as he raised his hand in an attempt to high-five me.

The boy versus a man article also noted the differences between being a girl and a woman – perhaps another grey area (which I’ve previously blogged about).

When HD returned home at 3.30am on a work night (for me; not him) recently (and promptly spent 20 minutes in the bathroom before climbing into bed and clumsily rolling into me, hiccupping), I responded by alternating between throwing a tantrum and giving him the silent treatment.