The advantage of dating single moms

[Accipiter]

I'll admit that for most of my dating life, I stayed away from the idea of dating single moms. I saw babies and children as a burden and a pain in the neck more than a bundle of joy. Dating a single mom meant having an active part in her child's life in one way or another, and the child obviously came from a man from a previous relationship. Plus if a girl is a single mom, there's possibly a very bad reason as to why, and I wanted absolutely nothing to do with it. Kids also take up too much free time. I didn't like kids.

But more recently I found myself crushing on a girl who I frequently saw at work. We began talking more and more. When I found out she had a kid I was aprehensive about asking her out at first. But one thing that fascinated me about her was her maturity level and her compassionate nature.

There were lots of great things about this girl that kept me from backing away. She was a very devoted worker who earned herself a good reputation at work. She was very goal oriented and wanted to get her son the best possible future. She was 23 and I am 29, and I can say she was far more mature than I was 6 years ago. Throughout my 20s I haven't had the responsibility of looking after someone else like a child, or even a house pet for that matter.

Taking on parenting is a huge life changing responsibility. Although I'm not a parent, I've seen it transform people in subtle ways. Having a child you love and care for builds character.

A few things I grew to realize when I dated this girl for a short while was:

• You can learn a lot about parenting and children by dating a single mom


• If a girl knows how to mother a child the right way, she certainly would know how to take care of you when you need her


• Many single guys out there won't go near single moms. Therefore you have less competition when it comes to dating and mingling.

Also, to all the single moms out there reading this: Don't worry there's plenty of child-free guys out there like me who would be glad to date you.