If you think dating as a single is complicated, you’re about to enter the realm of dating a single parent. They say it’s a different case altogether if you’re both single parents, but you are (fortunately or unfortunately?) not one. Still, for the longest time, you’ve made it one of your rules to date someone who’s a single SINGLE, not one who comes with a kid, a bike, and a pet goldfish.

For some reason though, however, you’ve found that your dating pool gravitated towards those who had a kid. And given your busy schedule, plus your online dating profile not snagging any interesting singles, you thought you’d give the parenting ones a shot.

You’ would think it would be easy personality-wise. For one thing, this date has been nurturing a child for quite some time. It’s bound to be an endearing experience, and one filled with camping trips and ice cream dates. Sounds easy and too good to be true, right?

To be honest, you’d be wrong in making assumptions as early as now. For one thing, becoming a parent doesn’'t make one into some two-dimensional character. Single parents can be as demanding, standoffish, possessive, irresponsible, charming, sweet, deceiving, and conning as the rest of us. The point? We take everything and everyone with a grain of salt. So this person has an offspring. That doesn'’t make him or her immune to the complexities of the human race.

What You Should N’ot Assume

That you’d automatically meet the kid and be the best of friends with him/her. That you’d fill in as the other parent. That given enough time, you’d become a fixture in their household. That there’s no chance of your partner and the ex getting back together. The child will always be a bond, and there WILL always be communication. That given time, you’ll get a better time slot than the child. That your partner is now the marrying sort because of the offspring, and would automatically want to have a full brood with you. That the partner would be a lot more touchy-feely and in touch with sentimentalities because of the nurturing side of a parent.