Search Results for: blog please dont tell single parent to stop being picky

Dating Tips For Single Parents

Dating as a single mom can be a little daunting. For most of us, it’s been years since we went on a date with anyone other than a man who knew us well. I remember feeling like I didn’t even know how to behave on a date anymore! More and more single people are using online dating as a way to meet people. This can make dating even scarier, it’s one thing to go out to dinner with someone you know, even vaguely, but to go out with a complete strange can be a little intimidating. Here are a few … Continue reading →

Single Parent Dating—Are You Afraid, or Just Being Practical?

What’s fear got to do with it, you may be asking, but let us be honest here, dating as a single parent can be a complicated and confusing thing (task, endeavor, or adventure?) We want to get it right, but we only have a limited amount of time and energy. We want to learn from past mistakes and we would really like to avoid making the same ones, but we might be trying so hard to avoid pain that we don’t even want to get back in the pool. We tell ourselves that we are just being reasonable and practical—but … Continue reading →

Treated Well in Front of the Kids

I was reading a parenting book recently and it was very focused on the “traditional” two-parent home. One of the things the author stressed was how important and wonderful it is for children to see two adults who respect and love each other treat each other well in front of the kids. I couldn’t help but internalize some of this and mull it over from my single parent’s perspective. Not only would it be great if my kids could have seen me “treated well”—I wouldn’t have minded a little of that myself. In truth, it was the years of marriage … Continue reading →

“No Thank You” to Parenting Advice from a Date

They may have a dozen children they are raising on their own or be the most renowned parenting expert in the world—that doesn’t mean that we, as single parents, need to take parenting advice or be expected to be comfortable with suggestions on parenting choices from someone we are just starting to date. I am not sure why people even think that it might be okay to offer parenting advice to a single parent on a date? I suppose that there are those parents who ask for it—asking a person what they think they should do or what they would … Continue reading →

Just Because I’m a Mother, Doesn’t Mean I Want to Parent Adults Too

Recently, I was talking with another forty-plus single parent and we were talking about dating (of course)–we started commiserating about the fact that we would like to meet and date other “grown-ups”–for some reason, we had both drawn people into our lives that assumed that since we were mothers/parents, we would be willing to take care of everything and everyone in addition to our own children and families. The fact is, at least for me, it was just the opposite. Since I already am a parent, I have pretty high expectations of the other adults I allow into my life; … Continue reading →

Should You Lower or Raise Your Standards?

I recently wrote about how I think that those people who tell single parents that they should “stop being so picky” need to stop! In my opinion, single parents have earned the right to take their time and be as picky as they feel they need to be whether they are dating and looking for love, choosing friends, finding a new neighborhood, working on their careers, or whatever. As I was writing, however, I got to thinking about the whole idea of “standards” and whether or not some of us single parents have a tendency to have standards that are … Continue reading →

Take Time to Figure Out What You Really Want & Need

To read what I have written about single parents and dating, you would think I am a curmudgeon and down on the whole scene. I really am not at all, I am just a bit seasoned from years of living and single parenthood. One of the things I do believe about single parents and dating is that a person can really take advantage of the status of “single hood” to figure out what he or she really wants or needs in a partner, and in their life as a whole. We don’t need to be in a big rush to … Continue reading →

A Little Stimulating Conversation Would Suit Me Just Fine

Periodically we write about the realities, dreams and perils of single parent dating here in the Single Parents blog. I acknowledge that I am not always the most inspirational cheerleader when it comes to the dating department. It might be my personal experience or, more than likely, it is just my personality and my age–there are other things that consume my time now. Still, as I look around my world of colleagues, distant old friends (who have moved far away so we rely on e-mail for connection, occasional dates, and acquaintances–I realize that at this point in my life, some … Continue reading →