Right-Relationship

27 Ways to Know If You've Found the Right Relationship for You

By Stacy D. Phillips Special to Yahoo! Personals Updated: May 26, 2007

There is nothing more glorious than falling in love! What a wonderful feeling it is when, after all that searching and seeking, you finally hook up with that compatible mate. But wait! How can you know that the person you think is right for you, is really right for you?

All you have to do is make sure that you ask the appropriate questions. At the right time and place, I suggest the two of you exchange answers to the following questions:

Kids or no kids
Smoking or no smoking
Drinking or no drinking? (Same for drugs)
Religious beliefs: Match? Blend? Clash
Who works? Who stays home (especially when the kids come along)
Who wants to live where?
Who controls the checkbook
What is his/her personal relationship with his/her family? Too distant? Too close Too weird? Appropriate to your standards?
How are holidays spent? At home? With family? Alone? Vacationing
Windows opened or closed? Heat/AC on or off
What side of the bed must you (he/she) sleep on
Where to spend vacations? Leisure time
Sick: Left alone or babied
Appropriate gift giving: birthdays? Yuletide holidays? Special occasions
Who does what around the house
What is acceptable hygiene
What are his/her hobbies, pastimes
Preferences: Music? Movie? Book favorites
Favorite foods
Pets or no pets? What kind
Decisions about the children: School, church, discipline, allowance, extra curricular activities, friends, and curfew?
Mealtimes: Early or late
Furniture: Vintage or contemporary
Sleeping habits: Four hours or eight?

More compatibility factors

If this list is not enough to help you determine whether or not your new love is right for you, try these:

How does your new love handle a crisis?
Behave in public places?
Treat your friends and family?

I also think you can tell a great deal about your new mate by the way he treats his mother and how she treats her father. Observing how a person regards that parent is key in establishing how he or she will treat you!

Stacy D. Phillips is a family law attorney and managing partner of Phillips, Lerner, Lauzon & Jamra in Los Angeles, California, and the author of "Divorce: It's All About Control -- How to Win the Emotional, Psychological and Legal Wars."