Being a single parent has some unique challenges in addition to the challenges faced by two-parent families. If you are dating someone who is a single parent, please read this so that you will understand better what a single parent deals with in his or her chaotic lives. Dear Date: It is true, I am looking for some companionship, but I am a little skittish because I have been burned before. Please be patient with me and allow me to back away from you physically and emotionally without feeling slighted. I am just protecting myself until I feel that I … Continue reading →

Being a single parent you have been out of the “loop”, so to speak, in the world of dating. You have been so busy taking care of your children and trying to bounce back from your past relationship that you have neglected a need within yourself. We all need love, it is a human need. We all need to feel touch, warmth, and caring from another person. Our children are our greatest source of love and fulfillment in the parenting department, but love that comes from the opposite sex in a caring, committed relationship feels so good and fulfills a … Continue reading →

Being single and alone, you have been through some type of emotional upheaval of some sort. Either you have weathered the storm in bearing a child all by yourself without marriage, you have been through a divorce, or you have been through the death of a spouse. Any one of these scenarios qualifies you for a bravery medal. You have lived love and lost love and with that there is most likely heartbreak involved. So you have been alone, maybe for some time now and you are tired of it. You want to go out again. You are feeling pretty … Continue reading →

Divorced and ready to date? First of all, have you given it enough time? Before you venture back out into the dating world you must make sure that you are ready emotionally. You cannot just break up one month with your former partner and go right on back out there. That is rebound love and it spells nothing but trouble. You have to give yourself enough time to think things through and maybe even go through some counseling if necessary. You have to figure out what went wrong the first time and how you can avoid the same mistakes again. … Continue reading →

If you are dating again after being single for several years expect some repercussions from your kids. This problem is not as significant if they are younger than if they are older, but could still happen. There are a number of reactions that you may face when you tell your child that you are seeing someone. They could react with jealousy and/or dislike toward you, the person that you are seeing, or the both of you. They may refuse to meet them, or misbehave intentionally when they are around. As you probably are well aware, this will most likely be … Continue reading →

In A Place All Your Own You have finally accepted the fact that you are single again. Ugh, you do not like the sound of it, but there it is. You have acknowledged it and are trying to deal with it the best way that you know how. Some of your friends are sympathetic; some envy you, of all things. They would love the chance to be free again, they say. Do they not realize how difficult it is? How lonely it is? Apparently not. You pray that they never have the chance to feel the things that you are … Continue reading →

Unintentional and Unplanned Although I am sure that most people do not intend on having a long distance relationship, it sometimes happens. Not the ideal situation, you find yourself talking to someone and before you know it, something just clicks. You start connecting and they become a part of your life. Moving to be closer to each other may not be an option for various reasons at this time in your life. You then find that there are two choices that can be made and both will be difficult. You can continue the relationship and face numerous challenges, or part … Continue reading →

Making Sure It is Real When you first start dating you will more than likely be overwhelmed. You are most likely alone due to either divorce or death and have not done this dating thing in years. It does take getting used to. Once you do find someone that you “click” with it will be great for you, but what about the kids? They will be very curious as to who is spending time with you and they have every right to be. When to introduce them finally becomes the big question. Before you even think about introducing your kids … Continue reading →

I was talking with a couple other single parent friends of mine and we had a grand chuckle comparing some of our dates and attempts at relationships from our experience as single parents. One of the “universal truths” that became apparent was that we had all experienced those people who did not have children of their own but certainly seemed to think they had all the answers when it came to parenting. In fact, I think that those of us who are parents experience that humbling transformation of realizing that we really do not know half of what we thought … Continue reading →

I like to think of it as the “Goldilocks syndrome” and as I talk to other single parents or over-forty dating singles, I find that many of us tend to fall in either the “standards too high” or the “standards too low” camp. Either we have been burned enough times that we have just given up and will take just about anything that comes along in the dating department (or our self-esteem is so battered) or we have been burned enough time that we have become very, very picky. Either way our life experiences have caused us to shift the … Continue reading →