As I'm starting to date as a separated dad and looking at the pool of available women, I think about all the many different dynamics that come with single moms that play a factor in any relationship when you consider:

  • Age of the mom
  • How many children
  • Ages of her child(ren)
  • Boy(s) and/or girl(s)
  • Share of parenting time

My ex has sunk to great depths to try to secure primary custody, while having me pay for essentially holding my daughter hostage - I am not going to squander this battle. I have been fighting like hell to gain 50% parenting time of my daughter and I am set to get it. My goal is to balance my independence, while providing a nurturing environment for my daughter that does include exposure to a stable female relationship and the semblance of a sibling.

Lets get this out of the way, I do not see in my situation, a Rich Cooper scenario whereby I bag a single high SMV and healthy woman who will not want to cohabitate, not get married, and has written off having children of her own. This is the definition of a unicorn. (Keep in mind that Rich's ex has primary custody of his girl and they are amicable - this is not my situation.)

The only acceptable arrangement with a single mom is one where the sexes and relative ages of your children are the same, now throw in all the other red flags to avoid. I'd like to hear from other divorced dads who do have a successful LTR about their experiences calibrating to these different single mom sub-types.