Dating guidelines for single parents
"I am a single parent of a three-year-old boy. I have just begun to date. I am afraid my son won't want to "share" me with anyone. What is the best way to introduce a date to my son and when is it appropriate for me to do so?"
When you (and your date) are comfortable, introduce your date to your son as a "new friend." Friendship is not only the foundation of a viable relationship, but something your child understands! Many new friendships do not continue, but good ones evolve. Just as your son has his preschool friends, he will understand that you also have adult friendships too, so jealousy will be lessened from the start.
Maintain appropriate boundaries during the dating process in order to protect your child from attaching to someone who may just be passing through. It is recommended to keep your dating life separate from your family life until there is a clear commitment in the relationship before considering deepening the involvement with your son. Never assign parental responsibilities to a romantic friend.
Of course friendships are important, but it is more important that you protect your child from getting overly involved with people who could be misconstrued as caring parental figures by the child only to disappear later, which can be devastating to a small child.
When in doubt, err on the side of caution.
Preparing for Sole Parent Dating
It's amazing how much confidence we can lose when we've been in a steady relationship for sometime. There's only one way back in ... and that's to jump in. You may have conflicting feelings of guilt where the children are concerned, but happy parents make happy kids, so work your life out in a way that you can be a great parent but still have a good time.
The costs of going out and hiring babysitters can be quite costly, which is why many sole parents form babysitting groups to take turns caring for each others children. If there are no babysitting groups that you already know of ... instigate one! You'll be loved for it.
Put notices up in the kindergarten and school, then have coffee with those who respond to your ad ... if they match up to your own child rearing expectations, bingo you have a match! Eventually you will be able to babysit each others children in your own homes over night, which will mean some extra dating freedom!
Don't forget we have a genuine, resident Psychologist on
Cairns Romance Island if you would like to ask more questions about managing
family members and dating.
Cairns Romance Island is another Singles Dating Concept brought to you by Splash Singles Romance
