How to date as a single mom

One of the hardest things about being a single parent is trying to have a life. Whether that's just a social life or a romantic one. I am lucky in that my co-parenting schedule has allowed me to keep my social life (and dating) separate from my daughter.

I'm not saying that I'm perfect, or that the way Joey and I do things are how everyone else should do them, but I will say that I'm proud of what we have done over the past six months and how we both handle our relationship.

I hate seeing my friends with children dating multiple guys, bringing every one of those guys around their children, and even allowing their kids to call the guys "dad" after just a couple of months. I'm not saying that they are wrong, just that I don't believe in it. And of course, I only say that because I made that mistake once. Sophie was a baby at the time but we ended up dating long enough that she still remembers the break up. Not good. Not that I blame any girls out there for dating around, we all know how hard dating can be. But not every guy that makes it through the few first dates needs to come home and meet the little.

Joey and I waited until we were together for 3 or 4 months before he met Sophie, and then we had a "date night" every two weeks where we all hung out. Now the schedule is basically nonexistent. Sometimes it's every week, sometimes every two weeks. Sometimes we spend most of an entire weekend together. It all just depends. So far it's gone really well. Maybe too well. Sophie cries for him some evenings and wants to go to his house but I think it's important that we each have our own spaces still. We plan on waiting at least 6 more months to move into together. Possibly a year. I don't plan on having a strict time table for our relationship. I'm just proud that we are taking things slow.

One of our special "dates", during the be a tourist 2014 event

We aren't doing this because things aren't going well. They're actually going very well, so we see no need to rush things. I wish I had somebody telling me this things a few years ago, so hopefully my other single moms will take this to heart. You might think that it doesn't matter because your child won't remember but I'm here to tell you that they will.

You shouldn't approach a relationship with the mindset that the guy is dating you and needs to see your motherly side right away. He needs to see who you are as a PERSON not just a parent. He'll get to see that plenty on down the road. I can't say how many time outs and difficult nap times Joey has already endured. Let him see the real you before he sees the frazzled, frustrated, sticky mess you become around your child/ren. If he's the right guy, he'll love you both ways, and your little one too.