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Dating as a single parent can be a challenge.  Here you can find articles and advice on single parent dating.

Single Parents Dating more than Singles without Children?

Single Parents Dating more than Singles without Children?

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According to dating site Match.com, “21% of single parents are currently dating someone versus 16% of singles without kids; 35% of single parents have been on a first date in the past year versus 27% of singles without kids.” Now, these statistics could have been manipulated in a million ways (what does “single” mean exactly, how precisely do you define “dating,” etc.), but the good news is, this means that single parents aren’t moping around sad, lonely and bored. We’re getting out, and as Jezebel’s Anna North put it, “getting it on.”

As a single mother myself, I can attest to the getting it on part.  Since I’ve spent the better part of the last two years since my divorce following doing all of the things Match recommends the newly single parent do: compiling a killer wardrobe, maintaining a great hairstyle (one Eat Pray Love author Elizabeth Gilbert described as an “eff you cut“), I seem to have no problem snagging a squire for an evening of romance.  What I can’t get is a date.

Let me rephrase that: it’s not that I think I am unable to get a date or that I think I’m not girlfriend material.  It’s that I haven’t had a man ask to buy me dinner.  That being said, I won’t deny that one of the first thoughts that exploded into my brain and out of my mouth when I knew I was leaving my husband was, “I gave you my 20?s!  I had a kid.  No one is going to want me now.”  It took about a year, but as I devoted more time to To read the entrie article clickmy emotional recovery, health and well-being, I realized I wasn’t “damaged goods,” despite the fact that I felt it and meant it the day that I posted that as my Gchat status circa summer 2009.

To read the entire article click here.

Dating as a single parent

Dating as a single parent

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Dating is hard enough. When you throw kids into the mix, it gets even harder. When do you tell your date you have children? When do you introduce the kids and the date? When do you even find time to date? Well, here are a few suggestions from those in the know:

Revealing Your Parental Status

Whether or not you tell your date about your children and when you choose to tell them is a personal decision. Particularly if your children are small, this is something you should be upfront about. You wouldn’t want anyone you’re dating to think you were trying to hoodwink them or conceal something of vital importance in your life. A single person without children of may not be ready to get involved with a single parent, but a fellow single parent would likely be drawn to that person.

There are situations, however, when not being quite so upfront could prove to be of value. Not that you should ever lie or try to hide your parental situation, but if you can hold onto your cards for perhaps the first 2-3 dates, you may have a better chance with someone who may otherwise have made a decision not to date you based solely on the fact that you have children. If they have time to get to know you and recognize that they like you for you, they may end up feeling more willing to make a go of things once you do reveal your parental status. Tread very carefully in this situation, however. We should all be given ample opportunity to decide for ourselves what we want. If the person you’re dating gets the impression you lied to them, they may decide they don’t like you all that much after all.

Introducing Kids and Dates

As a general rule, the decision of when to introduce your kids to your date will probably depend more on your child’s age than anything else. A child of a reasonable age, say 16 and up is probably mature enough to handle meeting a parent’s date. Just be careful about how your conduct your dates. If you’re dating a different person every week, maybe it’s not such a good idea to constantly parade in a series of ever-changing faces in front of a child of any age. It can be over-whelming. Younger children are even more impressionable and should be shielded fairly heavily. When you do go out, just let your children know you’re going out with a friend. If you decide to commit to someone special and it’s been a few months of dating in a healthy stable relationship, that would be the time to start slowly bringing your date around your children.

Once you have introduced the kids and the date, proceed with caution. Don’t do too much too soon. Give your child time to get used to a new person in your life, and give your date time to get used to them. It’s not always a perfectly smooth transition and can lead to feelings of jealousy on either side. Just be patient and loving, and ensure either party – child or date – that you care about them and they are important regardless of how many special people you have in your life.