The struggles of dating as a single mother

There's a reason why its protocol to get married, and have babies and stay married "till death do us part" because trying as a single parent is not easy. I have been a single parent for a little over 4 years and the longest relationship I have had since my son's father lasted about a 8 months.

I am not the person I was pre-child. It's not so easy to date me now. I can't go on spontaneous trips or go on a date during the week. When I leave my job at 5:30, my other job starts - Director of Household aka Mom. My life is consumed with my son's homework, karate lessons, soccer, choir, asthma medication and Guitar Hero. When I put him to sleep at night, I don't want to jump on the phone and have a 2 hour conversation with a guy I'm dating. I want to finish the laundry, watch Grey's Anatomy and go to bed. I don't get to workout at the gym 2 hours a day to make sure I look as tight as possible. 90% of my lunch breaks are used for either grocery shopping, going to the gym, or running errands so I don't have waste my time on these things when I could be spending it with my son. I like to call this time management :)

Some men see dating a single mom as a burden or an obstacle and would rather date someone with "no baggage." Well guess what guys - the older you get, the less options of dating woman with no baggage becomes unless you plan on dating 21 year olds for the rest of your life...and if you do, good luck with that. Drama central.

Although I may not be able to do things at the drop of a hat, there are advantages of dating a single mom that most men are not aware of:

1 - I won't cheat. I don't have time to cheat. I cant barely fit you into my life, so how could I balance more than one of you? And if I tried, my son would probably let the cat out of the bag and I don't wanna chance that.

2 - I don't have time for drama. I get plenty from my 10 year old.

3 - I know how to pay my own bills. Between balancing the mortgage, car payments, daycare, school functions, groceries, etc I am financially responsible. I have to be or my child doesn't get fed. This is a hard skill set to find in women and the majority of SM's have to possess it in order to survive.

4 - You get to see how I am as a mother. Most men want to try before they buy when it comes to sex, why not when it comes to parenting?

5 - Finally, most SM's will not push for commitment or a serious relationship. Once bitten, twice shy. We've been down this road before and are willing to take things a lot slower for the sake of our child now.

So to all the guys out there, before you rule out dating a single mom, weigh the pros and cons and I'll think you'll see we're a pretty good catch.