Winter will be coming to an end soon and so will the millions of couples that only exist because of the cold weather. Only a small percentage of cuffing season relationships last past the first signs of spring. Here are 10 signs your winter fling will be done by March.
- You have no plans for next summer. The most obvious way to know that your cuffing season fling is over is that the two of you haven’t really made any plans past the end of winter. You don’t really know where you’ll be in the spring or summer months (actually, you do—you’ll be single and out of this relationship, ha) and he’s probably thinking the same thing. Couples usually get excited over summer plans—vacations, beach days, going for runs outside—but you’re not talking about any of that stuff because you know deep down that it’s not gonna happen.
- Neither of you is making a big deal out of Valentine’s Day. You’ve both agreed to have a low-key Valentine’s Day because, well, the relationship is losing steam and you don’t want to do something grand and exciting only to break up a month later. The idea of a quiet, low-pressure Valentine’s Day sounds just perfect to both of you. I mean, you’re on your way out anyway. No use getting each other’s hopes up.
- You can’t relate to each other unless you’re having sex. The whole reason you got together in the first place was to cuddle and have sex. That’s the purpose of cuffing season relationships—so we can have that little bit of warmth during those, cold, dark winter nights. However, there comes a point in every relationship where the sex starts to get repetitive and you both start thinking, “OK, what else?” You try to have some deep conversations but you’re not really clicking the same way you do when you have sex. This point usually comes five or six months into a relationship. In the realm of cuffing season, that’s like… right now.
- One or both of you is constantly looking out the window at the snow and sighing. Is your boyfriend looking out at the snow in sadness pretty much all the time? It could be that he’s wishing for spring to come so he can end this seasonal fling and move on with his life. He knows he’s gonna have to break up with you eventually and he just wants to get it over with. Each day of winter that goes by just reminds him of what’s to come—the eventual dumping.
- When you mention summer, there’s just silence. There’s a palpable awkward silence when either you bring up the coming summer. It’s a moot point since you aren’t going to make it that far as a couple. Pay attention to what happens when you talk about how you’re going to buy a popsicle mold so the two of you can eat ice pops on the deck in the sunshine. If he doesn’t respond, it means it’s not gonna happen.
- You’re both spending a nuts amount of time on your phones. Gotta get a head start on those dating apps. I’ve seen my friends’ boyfriends on dating apps months before they end up breaking up, possibly due to me telling my friends about their cheating boyfriends. Be wary of your boyfriend’s phone habits. If it’s increasing, it’s for a reason. Either he has a strange growth on his foot that he can’t stop Googling or he’s re-downloading those dating apps in preparation for your coming breakup.
- You’ve stopped telling each other how cold you are. When you guys first started dating, you used to cuddle and complain about how cold you are. That’s all stopped since the snow’s starting to melt a bit. Now what good are you to each other? When he complains about the cold these days, it’s more annoying than endearing. Just put on a sweater, jeez.
- You both just kinda know. When you feel your relationship’s expiration date looming in the pit of your stomach, that’s how you’ll know it’s truly coming to an end. Either you’ll drop the bomb or he will, but it won’t be that shocking because you saw it coming months ago.
- You find yourself fantasizing about being single. You’re looking at the spring trends for 2018 and are picturing yourself wearing flirty sundresses and sheer tights as a super cute single girl flaunting her stuff out on the town. Summer is for partying with your friends and just seeing where the night takes you. We all feel a lot more free in the warmer weather, which is why so many of us end our relationships at the first tulip’s bloom.
- Sleeping beside him is now annoying. You used to look forward to sleeping with your seasonal boyfriend, but now it’s just straight up annoying. It’s not nearly as cold as it was a couple of months ago and now you’re actually so hot all snuggled together. It’s clearly time to end it.
