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The Family Hall of Fame
Writing Contest!

Love to Write?
Enter our Writing Contest for the chance
to be published and win cash prizes!

• 1st Place wins $100

• 2nd Place wins $50

• 3rd Place wins $25

Tell us about your positive family stories
and have the chance to win money
and be published!

Read previous winning essays!



Enter Writing Contest!

Dating is a real challenge in today’s society.  It is difficult enough to sort through the basics of current dating trends in our society.  Many use Internet chat rooms, personal ads, church singles groups and dear well-meaning friends to find potential dates.  The whole process becomes even more difficult when you are a single parent with children.

A single parent faces more than the usual dating challenges.  It is important to remember, you do not have to completely give up your social life in order to be a good parent!  It is hard not to scare off potential dates when they discover you are a parent.  But while it may narrow the field of suitors, being a single parent does not have to isolate you from the opposite sex and a well-rounded social life.

There are a number of potential conflict issues that face single parents who date.  The single parent can be caught between the desire to pay attention to their love interest and address the child’s fear of being abandon.  A second issue presents itself as a steady dating relationship creates a reordering process for dating partner, parent and child.  In some cases their core family life will end up being restructured.  Too often children see a date as a parent’s attempt to replace their former mommy or daddy with the new love interest.

It is best for a single parent to move slowly back into the dating game.  You don’t want  to scare a potential suitor into thinking you are on the rebound or looking for someone to inherit a blended family. 

Some suggestions:

♥       Take your time; don’t start dating immediately after a divorce or the death of a spouse.  Allow time for family members to adjust to the environmental changes facing your family.

♥       Be careful when introducing your children to your love interest and monitor the progress of their building relationship with them.  Make sure your relationship with a new person has a future before introducing them to your children. A steady stream of new faces can be confusing to children, especially young children.

♥       Pay attention to the initial reactions of your children to your love interest and monitor the progress of their building relationship.  Don’t expect your children’s relationships to develop with this person at the same rate as your relationship.

♥       Set ground rules for the relationship developed during dating with both your children and your dates. Issues of child discipline, language and other behavior guidelines should be discussed in advance of any interaction between a steady date and your children.  Communication is a primary preventative for interpersonal problems, as your casual dating partner becomes a steady part of your family circle.

♥       Make sure you continue to pay attention to your children.  You may want to consider a special time with each child daily or weekly, where it is just the two of you.  There is no substitute for good family time together.

♥       Finally, it is as important for you to live out your moral rules and guidelines, as you have set them for your children.  The people in our family of origin have modeled a great deal of our moral and interpersonal behavior for us.  It is important to practice the kind of moral and family behavior you would like to see develop in your children when they become adults.