Single Christian Parent Dating Advice

                                                             

Navigating the dating scene is a tricky and scary affair especially for single Christian parents, who have to be the mother and father to their children while keeping true to their Christian faith. Other than the fact that they have to be extra careful about how and who they date, single parents have to do a tough balancing act in being a parent to their children and a partner to their date.

There are common dating mistakes that single Christian parents make, which you can avoid and eventually succeed in dating as a single Christian parent. So, what are these common dating mistakes and how can you as a single parent avoid them?

Common Dating Pitfalls and How to Avoid Them

1: Being Too Comfortable Being Single

If you thought taking your time being single is a good thing, you are wrong. Even though it is scary to re-enter the dating scene especially if you have been married to one person for years, it does not get any better taking too long to begin dating again.

• Once you have recovered from the divorce or death of your spouse, it is a good idea, to test the waters. Who said being a Christian is a ticket to remain single and miserable the rest of your life because you are divorced, bereaved or you have children out of wedlock?
• Waiting too long to re-enter the dating scene cultivates new complexities such as being to set in your ways, such that it becomes almost impossible to accommodate or open up to new people.
• The secret is to begin slowly. This is to ensure that you have everything in control in terms of pace and who to date.

2: Dating Too Soon

Although it is not recommended to wait too long before you begin dating, it is also not a good idea to begin dating too soon.

• More often than not, as a single parent who has undergone divorce or death of a spouse, you are not emotionally ready to date other people and most importantly, your children may not be too excited to see you date someone else immediately after the divorce or death of their parent.
• Since there are no hard rules about when you should begin dating, you can give yourself about a whole year before you start dating.

3: Dating Exclusively Too Soon

Being exclusive seems like the best idea for a single Christian parent because it provides some sort of stability. However, this is the one thing you do not want to do in haste when dating as a single parent.

• Going out with several people at the same time may seem and even feel wrong, but this is the way to go.
• Simply, cast your net wide and go out with as many people as you can (no harm in going out for coffee and dinner with different people so long as you are not emotionally involved). In so doing, you will get an opportunity to compare your dates and date several people until when you are emotionally ready to commit to one person, without the risk of being emotionally tied down to one person, who may turn out not to be the one.
• Just because you are dating one person exclusively does not mean the other person is doing the same thing. Therefore, before you begin throwing the ‘E’ word around, first, be sure this is the type of person you want to go exclusive with and second, discuss it with your date to ensure that this is what both of you want.

The dating scene offers no guarantees and does not spare you just because you are a Chriatian believer.  The best thing you can do is to take your time to recover, begin slow and have fun dating!