Second date can be disaster for unwary

First dates are important with first impressions and all of that. But let’s be serious – if you wear clean clothes, mow your nose hair and go easy on the amusing anecdotes from your stretch in prison, pretty much anyone can skate through a first date.

It’s the second date that is engorged – wait, wrong adjective – that is laden with expectations and potential for disaster. The first meeting was intriguing enough – or at least lacking in arrest warrants – to make you both want to go for Round 2. The problem is that very success could foster overconfidence.

So here are a few do’s and don’ts for that make-or-break second date:

Gifting

Do: Bring some small token to show that you’ve been thinking of her, perhaps something that will remind her of your first date, such as a book she mentioned she’d like to read or the wine cork you used to show her the amusing trick with your nose.

Don’t: Overdo it with a full bouquet of flowers, a piece of jewelry or a big-screen TV.

What to wear

Do: Go for a variation on whatever you wore on your first date. It seemed to work.

Don’t: Regress to the T-shirt and cargo shorts phase. Save that for dates 3-15.

Where to go

Do: Keep it simple. A picnic, a trip to a museum. A picnic at a museum.

Don’t: Opt for the grand gesture – the expensive, romantic restaurant with linen tablecloths and plates the size of manhole covers.

Good-night move

Do: Attempt a warm embrace and a kiss on her doorstep.

Don’t: Assume too much if the smooch on her doorstep ends in an invitation to come in and have a cup of hot cocoa.