Does anyone else find it hard to find love as a single parent?

[DesperateHousewife32]

Hi, I'm a single mum that's been on my own for quite some time and now feel ready to find love. The problem is I'm a little nervous about it, about where to start and how any potential suitors may respond to me being a single mum. Is anyone else going through the same thing? Or has anyone already been through it and got any advice?

I've recently started my own blog called 'How I changed my life in a year'. I'm a single mum in desperate need of a life overhaul. Feel free to have a look.
www.desperatehousewife32.blogspot.com/

I have been on my own for 6 and a half years now - I have no idea what the answer is!

I have tried internet dating - met a few friends but nothing more and had more unsuccessful attempts than successful ones!

I am in my early/mid 30s and not sure how to go about actually meeting someone!

Juggling childcare and dating always seems a nightmare too!

i find it impossible - between working full time, being a long term single dad of three and always busy on weekends ive not had a gf for three years .
have no idea how to go about finding one either as never get time to go out - maybe next year :o

I have tried internet dating a few times, but no luck so far. Have had several dates and a couple of failed relationships from them. Otherwise I simply don´t seem to attract men at all. Even on the dating sites I don´t get many hits tbh, as I am no Katy Price lookalike. Couple that with a lack of opportunities to go out without DS, and lack of money to pay for babysitters and drinks etc...

Seems like a hopeless thing. I have almost resigned myself to remaining single for life and dying alone in my dingy flat crammed full of useless rubbish and hundreds of cats.

When I started dating, I restricted myself to dating only people who were parents themselves and by that were more likely to understand my responsibilities and the needs of DS.

It worked. I met some fantastic people, who did more than not wincing at my single parent status, they have been able to act toward my son as if he were one of their own.

I just wish I had the time, age and circumstances are definitely against me and I work on the theory that as long as my boys are happy then that's good enough for me. :). I don't really want to end up on my own, but my great friends do mean that I'm not lonely and after 5 yrs I don't really miss the extra "child" I had. Seriously though I do believe that if I meant to find someone I will one day.

Its difficult. I have been dating a fair bit lately and I can honestly say although I have met some lovely men, I cant imagine letting anyone them into my home with my boys as young as they are.

My children live with me, their father rarely has them to stay so I dont get much time to build any kind of relationship. Have resigned myself to the occasional snog until the children are older, but I'm not unhappy with that. I guess by the time I get some 'me time' I will be in my fifties and will just have to grow old disgracefully

It's hard isn't it.

I've had one drunken snog, one date set up by a friend and that's about it. Looked at internet dating but didn't feel at all comfortable with it. Plus ex is quite unreliable wrt having the dc so it's hard to set up dates in advance.

Right now I can't imagine where or how I'd meet someone, much less how I'd start a relationship

Getting the balance right is really difficult,i have been a single mum for 21 years!.. I had a lot of boyfriends for the first 9 years lasting from 3 months to 2 years, but i seemed to somehow end up with men that needed looking after-maybe my mothering instinct attracted them.

12 years ago i had DS2 with a man who already had 2 kids, but even that didn't last.So i was single for 9 years,met my XP-that lasted 3 and a half years until i ended it recently- We had 5 kids between us,ranging from 12 to 23,impossible, particularly as his kids hated 'sharing'their dad.. What i found really really difficult was having to be a mum one minute, get DS2 to bed at 9p.m, switch to lover while descending the stairs! I imagined i had 2 different heads! and i never had any time to myself!! Its a hell of a lot to juggle..

So i have warned my friends that i shall probably end up rescuing animals, and smelling of cat wee by the time DS2 leaves home.. they have all said they'll still come for a cuppa, we shall see