(MSNBC) 31-year-old hasn’t yet found his soulmate, so she started a website called "Date My Single Kid."
To Marry Off Her Son, Matchmaker Mom Launches Website
JULY 13, 2010Michael Inbar, MSNBC
Doting mom Geri Brin has never been shy about trying to get her 31-year-old son Colby married off. But now she’s allowing mothers everywhere to indulge their inner yenta by launching an Internet service that allows moms to peruse and push potential dates for their kids.
Brin, a 63-year-old former fashion publishing executive, launched the lifestyle website faboverfifty.com in February. But seeing a unique business opportunity, she recently created a new link on the site that lets moms post particulars about their sons — or daughters, grandkids, nieces and nephews — in hopes of creating a love connection.
While the site may seem like a novel new way for moms to embarrass their kids globally rather than just locally, Brin said she believes she’s hit on a winning formula: If the fix-ups don’t work out, moms make a convenient scapegoat. “All the kids have to do is roll their eyes and blame mom for getting them involved,” she told The New York Post.
For Brin, it’s a natural extension of her life’s ambition to find the perfect gal for her handsome — but still single — son Colby. Seeing Colby still unattached five years ago, Brin took it upon herself to find his soulmate.
Casting a wide net
“I even set him up with the saleswoman at the upholsterer I used to re-cover my sofa,” Brin told the Post. “I figured I might as well cast a wide net to increase the odds of finding the right woman, since he’s not hitting the jackpot on his own.”
Brin decided to let other mothers in on the action with her Fab Over Fifty website. The site includes a “Date My Single Kid” link for “FOF Women Love To Play Cupid!” There, site members can post info about the young singles in their family, and also cruise a list of postings from like-minded meddlesome moms.
So far, Brin has lured about 20 customers to the new link. And far from being a cringe-worthy experience for Colby Brin, he seems to be taking it all in stride.“Look, I’m a Jewish guy who grew up in New York,” he told The New York Post. “Obviously, I’m a mama’s boy. Who are you kidding?”While discussing the site at the top of TODAY’s fourth hour Tuesday, Hoda Kotb and guest co-host Willie Geist expressed surprise that Colby is being such a good sport. But Geist opined that a website for matchmaker moms only makes sense in the Internet age.
“If you’re going to set them up anyway, why not use the technology available to you?” Geist said. “If you’re doing it anyway, and he seems like he doesn’t mind, let’s cast a broad net and get it on the Internet.”
Jewish mother Geri Brin is so eager to marry off her son that she launched a website where she and other parents can find perfect matches for their single kids. TODAY’s Hoda Kotb and guest host Willie Geist discuss.
