This dating thing is quit tricky especially with a child involved, I'm dating someone but I'm not ready to introduce him to my son until I know we are serious, my son has heard me talk to him on the phone and asks who is or why haven't I called that person today which concerns me cause I'm not ready for them to know each other.

I have a 1.9 months old son and married to his mom. She chose to walk out of my life after 2 years of marriage and found herself a man. how hard it is for me to think of finding another woman and it's even painful to think of the fact that my kid will grow far away from me...

i agree that it is better to meet someone who already has kids- then there is no dealing with jealousy cos they get the responsibility toward your child as well as the love & bond you share!! never rush into anything though- it took me 8 months to introduce my son to my boyfriend & vice versa with his son. never been happier, and we love ech others children as if they were our own & the boys get along like a house on fire!!

I think as a single parent this issue for me has been the most sensitive, and complex of all. I have dealt with much difficulty and made difficult choices too. Abandoning partners who I thought were perfect for me, but didn't fit into my kids lives or rather that were not accepting fully of my extension of mother. Men and women sometimes can really be difficult and can never understand why you you putting your plans with them on hold to be with your kids. It has caused me much pain to hear someone ask me, can't you spare a few minutes for me and do that with the children later. I was disgusted and before I must be honest I would have jumped, because I was on a quest to find the one who would complete my family. And now I realise that when the time is right he will walk into my life, accept me as mother, daughter and career woman. The most important thing at the moment is to focus on my two Angels and be with them as much as possible so that they grow up stable, loving and secure adults.

In any relationship there should be no first and second etc. Treat every one equal with dignity and respect and treat your partner’s children as your own. I am dad of 1 and dating a mother of 2 and this works for us.

Do you know the difference between your "life" and your "live"????

Oh and one more thing I'd Like to add I work at a School From grade 000 to grade 7, So I work with them everyday. I love Kids, and I understand what advice Another singlemom is giving, but I'm also still young Early Mid 20's...

I'm a single mom for many years. When my son was 1 year old the father decided to bail out. A year later I met a wonderful man, or so I thought. We dated about 3mths before I introduced him to my son. 8 Years down the line we got married. Was married about 1.5 years and it ended in divorced. Main downfall, he never had kids of his own. I been divorced now for almost two years, and now met the perfect partner. We've been dating for about 6 months now and he met my son (14), after the 3rd week. My son loves him to bits. My new man has a son as well (7), we decided together to introduce the kids to one another at the same time. We met for supper at the Spur and there we introduced each other to each one's child. It worked wonderfully. My advice to Singlemoms out there, try and get involved with someone who already has a child. They are more understanding than men without kids.

Hi, I have a 4 year old daughter, that live with her mom. I get her every 2nd weekend. She is the most important person in my live. I have not started dating after me and her mom split up, for various reasons. But, chief among them, is that I'm scared to bring someone into my live, that will conflict with my live with my daughter. I also don't want to bring people into her live that will not be part of it for a long time.

I am divorced with two children, and the new man in my life has 3 of he's own, who live with the mother. I find it very difficult to find the right balance. It is a big challenge to keep everyone happy. Sometime, I feel, that it is a good challenge for my children, and leave them to sort out their own battles, and just keep an eye, from the back. Other times, I try and interfere, and it seems to get even more messy. He is a wonderful man, and they are great children. And since they have been in my life, generally my kids feel safer, at night. and at the same time, they play outside alot more. So there are alot of pro's, the cons are all the dirty dishes :-), and an occasional scuffle. I remember, having the same fights with my siblings, so I don't think it is because they are steps, that there is abit of tension. So what to do. Force the kids to develop, social behaviour, and negotiating skills? Or find a man, who has no children. I believe that will create a whole set of problems of their own....as I find it hard to imagine, a man who has never had children adapt, to my situation. What to do?

I would Actually Like to have some help or advice from you single mothers... I was dating a young lady with an Young Child, even though we split up 2 weeks ago, I still care for her and would like to reconcile... I am totally fine with the fact that her son will be number one always as you said in this article. And my intentions are also that of good ones, I never take relationships lightly. what I'm trying to say is that I would have made this a permanent relationship. But I also know that I did screw up in ways by taking things a bit to fast, not with the child, we went to a park once and she took him along for shopping with us once, Do you have any help or advice for me?

I have a 3 yr old son. I am too scared to date, reason being is that you never know what you allow in. I hear a lot of stories about people dating, think they found the right person and after 3 or 4 years they get married, how great a person he is and suddenly he turns against the child, beating him etc. This is my biggest fear. I feal that I need to protect my child and would like to raise him with values and not break him as it seems this is what happens. The scariest part is usually it is men that they've met in Church.

-I have a 4yr old girl and I dont know if I will ever get to a stage where I feel comfortable to introduce her to any man I am seeing. Its hard these days, you never know what people have in mind when they meet your kids, I think the man to be introduced to my daughter will have to take a polygraph test(to make sure he is not a creep/paedophile). And my family will have to put him through a battery of tests just to make sure there is no monster lurking. Or being single is also an option. My angel is number one, everybody else can pick a number

I have a 6 yr old son and he is my whole world. I have started seeing someone but he makes me feel as if I must choose between them all the time! There is no way that I will even consider doing that as the man would lose! A man can be replaced, a son/daughter never so if there is no place in his heart for my son then there is no place for him, period. it is very difficult to date when you have a child and even more so when you do not have babysitters on hand, it takes a lot of prearranging and even then it's not always possible.So I say enjoy the kids while you can and hopefully the rest will follow in time.