Single parent dating isn’t easy. Things can turn into a minefield pretty quickly. Here are three golden rules to help you navigate the field.
Trust your gut
If you get a bad feeling when you’re speaking to a potential date, listen to what your gut is telling you. Something may be off. That decision could save you a lot of stress and frustration. Be sure to look out for any red flags as well, Parents says. That way, your dates should go off without a hitch.
Talk to your kids
Make sure your kids know that you’re dating. Don’t try to hide it from them. However, that doesn’t mean you should introduce your date to your kids right away. Children often start bonding right away. If you think you and your date aren’t at that stage yet, then take things slowly. Wait awhile before you let your kids meet your date.
Use a pro
Being a parent means being busy all the time. Raising kids can take every spare minute of the day. Plus, when you’re a parent, there is no off button. You’re on duty, 24/7. That’s just more proof that single parent dating is hard. If you don’t have enough time to date around, it’s much better to hire the services of a professional matchmaker instead. By using a matchmaking service, you can get a filtered match list. That helps. Knowing that you’re on your way to a date with people who’ve been carefully matched to you should give you much better chances of finding someone you’ll feel that connection with.
These are just some of the dating rules parents like you will find useful. If you’ve got kids and you want to get back into the dating game, then start by putting these tips to good use.