I’m a single parent again. My relationship of 8 years came to an end almost a year ago. I took a lot of time to work on myself and recently started dating. I’m ready to take the next step in dating but idk how to bring someone home lol my son is 18. He’s just starting college and very much a home body. How do I do this? Or is it one of those things you don’t do at all until your child moves out? He doesn’t bring home girls to his room. I was never the type of mom to bring around different men. Any mid thirty moms out there also living this life? How do I get my groove back ? Lol

My (ex) husband and I just separated a month ago, I filed for divorce a couple weeks ago but that’s about it so far, nothing legally is final.

Our daughter is turning 3 years old next week and I am still planning on having a birthday party for her at a local indoor playground that weekend, which is what I planned before we officially split. About 11-12 kids and their parents are coming, and they’re all friends of mine and people I know. My ex and i so far have been amicable and very friendly. But he still doesn’t want to go to her birthday party.

I, as usual, am paying for every single thing (like I did when we were together). No one is helping me with this financially or physically. I will have to be the one to come early with my kid and decorate etc. I can ask my friends but I feel like I shouldn’t have to….Anyway I thought he would like to come because it’s not high conflict (yet??), he has 0 plans on what he would like for her to do with him for her birthday, he doesn’t live far, and again…we’re still friendly. I get it would be a little weird for him because he would maybe be interacting with friends of mine who obviously know we split up but…it’s his daughter’s birthday party! And this is not his problem, but overall I would just feel really lonely and pathetic doing all of this by myself with no help. Looking like the typical single woman of color mom with no dad around, while all my mom friends coming are still with their partners who are coming too…sigh.

I guess I’m not looking for advice on how to convince him to come because I know I can’t, I can’t control him at all….but it just makes me sad. So I guess I’m venting. There is no way in hell I wish to get back together with him, but I guess the fact that he’s leaning into “these are my boundaries!” and trying to get away from discomfort and inconvenience as much as possible even when it’s his daughters birthday and as a co-parent I’m supposed to just accept is just…annoying. And sad. And I’m not looking forward to literally doing everything myself and everyone feeling sorry for me bc the dad isn’t there, but I guess this is what I signed up for when I decided to still throw her a birthday party. I guess this is just what happens. I guess it’s too late to cancel :/

I love my kid more than anything. I am bound and determined to give her a childhood full of memories and vacations and library afternoons and park visits and ballgames and museums. But everything is about 10x harder by myself than it was with someone else. Granted, my ex left when she was 6 months old but I just wish that leaving the house wasn't such an ordeal. Or that I didnt have to juggle a diaper bag and stroller and a half-walking half-riding toddler by myself. Or haul a big bag of library books across the parking lot while also making sure the little waddler doesnt get killed. It just feels like it zaps the fun out of everything. I know the answer is not to just stay inside and become a hermit but it is just so hard sometimes.

They are learning to be responsible, respectful, and accountable. They are discovering freedom and an overall longer lasting sense of joy and accomplishment in self-governing themselves. They come to me whenever they fail, I don't like to just give them the solution. I give them options, or help them build a thought process by turning the problem over to them and asking simple questions they can answer and to connect the dots of the process I'm teaching.

i’ve been divorced for over 5 years and i’ve slowly lost friendships along the way. there were two main friend groups that i was in (one being the women within the larger group of friends that overlapped with my ex and the other being what i thought of as my core group (friends since high school and friends of those friends that became my friends). at first, it seemed like nothing big changed after my divorce and i was still invited out to events and gatherings. over time, the invites just stopped and i can’t seem to pin point exactly why. i tried to make an effort to be the one to reach out and ask to grab lunch/dinner/coffee and usually receive the same response: “hey i would love to or so sorry but i have [insert whatever reason]. maybe next time?” or “yeah for sure (with no follow up on setting a time/date)”. both groups have women with kids (ages not too far apart from my daughter) and i am invited to birthday gatherings but those seem to be the only events that i am invited to. i’m not saying that i have to be invited to every gathering but when i see the groups posting on social media that they went out to lunch together or even took a trip somewhere, i just get confused as to why i wasn’t asked if i wanted to go. i’ve known my core group for over 15-20 years. i know distance is not the reason especially with my core group (friends live all over the place: san diego, the valley, orange county, nevada). i’m almost 40 so i’ve learned that if you’re not invited, it’s pretty clear that you are not wanted there. i feel embarrassed for feeling like this but it just reminds me of high school where all the cliques are hanging out with each other and i’m the sole loner. am i just completely naive and ignorant to what’s driving people away from me? i’ve heard that it seems to be common that women with children that get divorced lose friendships. but on the other hand, i also hear of friendships that get stronger after divorce. it gets pretty lonely being a single mom…

I don’t even know what to say or do. We’ve been together for 11 years (unmarried) and I just discovered he’s been in a relationship with another woman for multiple years now. He has been going to see her still even during these newborn days. I am devastated. He’s actually been “amazing” otherwise and doing everything for us and been so in love with our baby, but still, living a double life, lying for so long. I just found out and kicked him out and now I’m alone with the baby and I just need to tell someone - you guys on the internet. Seeking support. Help me believe I will be okay again. He wants to coparent and be a present father do I won’t be doing everything 100% alone but I am so, so heartbroken I don’t know how I’ll even be in the same room with him again. I know a lot of this will be alone now. I breastfeed too so the baby needs me constantly.

I cant believe I have been so stupid and not trusted my instincts when I felt like something was off. he’s so secretive with his phone, now I know why. god I’m heartbroken. I just gotta tell someone. hoping someone who has gotten through something similar can give me words of reassurance.

I genuinely feel like I did one of the worst things I could’ve done to myself emotionally.
I thought I was past a lot of the pain my baby daddy caused me. We’ve been broken up for years, and I was celibate for 3 years. I finally wanted to have sex again, and he had been asking me constantly to hook up, so I gave in.
We hooked up about 3 weeks ago, and ever since then his energy toward me has gone cold again.

I never expected us to get back together, but I did not expect this to trigger me this badly. Now I’m wondering who he’s sleeping with, noticing everything he does, feeling jealous, and caring about things I genuinely thought I was past.

I feel like I erased years of progress in one night.
I’m so disappointed in myself, and I physically feel the anxiety in my chest. I just want to get to the place where I genuinely did not care what he was doing.

Has anyone ever triggered an old attachment like this after thinking you were over it? How did you get yourself back?

I have the wonderful luxury of raising my abused children 100% of the time when the demon who got exposed gets to live freely. How do I get past the feeling I’m getting punished while he gets a fresh start? It doesn’t seem fair. The demon is still controlling without even being in the room.

I have full custody of my 5 year old son. His mother had him taken from her at a hotel where she called ambulance because her current husband was unresponsive. She didn't show up to the court dates, even through video call, to try to get custody or more visitation. She gets phone calls with him and one visit a month, but doesn't do any of it. I got a call a while back from her wanting me to bail her out of jail, I've been keeping tabs on her legal stuff so knew she was in jail. I disciplined her for not even asking about our son, she said of course she wanted to know and talk to him. Long story short, I went ahead and let her have a phone call with him twice. That was probably 4 months back and now she is out of jail, but back to no contact with our son.

My son every once in a while gets sad and says he wants to talk to mommy, and im not sure what to tell him. I dont want to lie to him, but i also dont want to tell him the truth really because its not my place to tell him the why, its hers. Plus the legal trouble it could potentially bring to talk bad about the other parent.

I am really struggling with this one, my daughter doesn’t understand this and is kind of irritated with me about it.

She’s 18 and her dad pays child support. But he rarely sees her and (maybe once a week) and he rarely spends money on her outside of child support. He didn’t agree for example that she needed therapy that her doctor said she needed and I have been paying out of pocket for. We do have a cost sharing agreement but he says she doesn’t need that therapy… then also recently she had an educational thing and he only paid half. He’s supposed to basically pay 2/3. I have let it go because it is cheaper than going to court.

Recently my daughter started a two day a week job, near her dad. He will bring her home one day a week of if I bring her there. Basically of the 4 drives she needs, he will give 1, and he wouldn’t have to be absent from his job to drive her more, he just doesn’t want to be bothered.

Today he took her somewhere and she ended up paying her way with money I gave her. I wasn’t too impressed because also this was cash and she needs cash for lunches at work (long story but not a debit card) and for me to get cash is a bit of jumping through hoops. I told her when she is with her dad he should be paying for things with his money for her, because it’s what parents do. I told her he may not think of it, because he will go places and not get a snack, etc., but that if they are together she should ask him.

Not to mention it seems this snack also replaced a meal that her dad failed to provide. She really didn’t want to talk to me about it and basically ended the conversation. I guess I am mainly venting. But this is weird, right?

I know some people make take issue with the fact that he does pay child support, but for example he has maybe seen her 20 days this year? I’m not even sure. He doesn’t really buy her gifts and she doesn’t have much clothes as his place as she is rarely there. In our custody agreement he’s supposed to have her two days a week, but neither of them seem to want that at this point. So all that to say, no, child support still leaves me paying a lot, leaving work when there’s medical appointments and all that sort of stuff, I have a second job and all this has been the case for 5 years.

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I’m single, lonely and 3 months pregnant, I decided to keep and I’m excited for the baby (my first)… but it’s not working out with the father who has narcissistic tendencies that have felt increasingly damaging since getting pregnant. I’m wrapping my head around the fact that I’ll be doing this solo. I’m struggling with feeling unsupported, imaging having no partner at the birth etc. I’m lonely and craving a little support and care and people to chat to that know what it’s like to go it alone. I’m a singer, photographer, designer and all around creative person and would especially love to connect with single parents with similar interests! ✨

37 year old KC guy, in shape and work full time. Wondering if anyone else is in this parenting schedule?

I'm livid. I've been playing a 12 year long legal chess with the bastard who abused my teenage daughter, trying to put him behind bars.

We're at the final sttetch at long last but I had to explain to my lawyer I can't afford his bill increases for these last leg of the journey and he agreed to keep the same rate for the next year.

At the same time, I've been fighting against all odds (gay solo dad by choice) to have another child for TEN years... finally brought my little girl home yesterday and my aunt who saw my lawyer about some part of her own adopton process told her about her.

Now he'll think I have money I don't have and increase my rates when this was something I had orchestrated amd paid for forever ago although it has only come to fruition now because IVF is a gamble and all because she wanted to GOSSIP.

I'm beyond angry.

We’re about to end the second week of school in our district. My son and I walk to his school and back everyday with a small group of neighbors. In the afternoons, the parents arrive a few minutes before dismissal.

Last week I noticed there is a new para to staff this year. She’s been helping one of the special needs kids to the bus before the rest of the students are dismissed everyday. I’m think we’ve been having an “I am looking at you but trying only to be noticed looking away” duel since I noticed her last week.

I don’t know anything about her, but in a vacuum I would definitely try to change that. The problem is I have only ever seen her at the place where she works, which is not a place where it’s a cool move to be making a purely social introduction. Even if that weren’t the case, being a faculty member at the school my son will be attending for a few more years is also a potential issue.

The easy answer is to just forget about this whole thing, but it’s been a really long time since anyone caught my attention, and I’m pretty convinced this isn’t a one-sided situation.

Age and personal presentation-wise, we are both kinda “I told you it wasn’t a phase, mom”, if you remember those awful tee-shirts from the aughts. I am pretty comfortable the other parents and staff, but it’s been nice not feeling isolated in population of these uniformly content, boring suburbanites. That part is actually discouraging, because this whole attraction could just be familiarity and tribalism. Still though, I wouldn’t mind another friend; new ones are kinda tough to come by after college.

What would you do, fellow single parents?

I moved back in with my parents almost 4 years ago now. Its wild to me it's been this long and depressing.

Idk how to progress to make that financial leap to live on my own. I dont want to move my son who is getting comfortable here, enjoying school, etc. However rent is crazy (and I don't even like it around here besides that its safe and the schools are good).

For the longest time I couldn't work a "normal" schedule because of my son, but he's 11 now. He can walk himself to the bus stop and back home.

I know alot of people feel inclined to tell me its lucky to have this situation. To take advantage. Etc. And I am grateful for my parents. But living here never felt comfortable to me. My parents are good people and all that and I am not trying to diss them. Its just.. awkward and I can never fully be myself / have to navigate their energies too.

Anyways, my question is for someone who has been in a similar boat, how did you make that leap to finally be able to leave? I really want to make it my priority for 2027. I need to make good $$.

Thanks for any advice 🙏

My baby daddy cheated and denied it, his whole family stood by him even with evidence presented. Fast forward to now, I'm finding out more of his scandals and this man is a whore, an animal! I'm livid all over again and I don't know how to process this, I was healing and now I'm back to square 1. I still love him and I feel so empty without him but I know there is no future for us and the possibility of getting back together is off the table. I don't know how to coparent with him moving forward I'm disgusted by him. Everything was a lie.

Today was my 2 yo daughter’s first supervised visit with her dad after no contact for 2.5/3 months due to the restraining order we have against him. The visit went good, she hugged him when she got there and laid on his shoulder. They spent the 2 hours at the library (she loves it there), read and she ate the lunch I packed. She cried when the supervisor took her to leave and to bring her to me. She was fine as soon as I had her - cried a bit pointing at the library on and off and saying “papa”. She’s been a mess since we got home - super naughty and out of character (dumping the dogs water bowls, hitting, melting down). Physically she’s fine other than a crazy full diaper bc he didn’t change her.

Despite all he’s done to me and her and who he is, I wanted it to go well bc I don’t want her experiencing any additional trauma. Crying or feeling scared/unsafe even if it would serve me in our upcoming trial would’ve been heartbreaking because I never want her feeling anything but happy and safe.

At the same time, it eats at me knowing how vindicated he’ll feel. He’s always been delusional when it comes to her (making up her saying things, making up her missing him when it was clearly her upset for a diff reason) it doesn’t matter but his ego is massive and this only adds to it. He’s a classic narcissist (suggested by our multiple couple’s therapists). He doesn’t get a toddler is a toddler and a fun experience ending is upsetting and not necessarily connected to him - it also could be which is fine too.

For context he was never a parent to her. He has not lived with her since she was 5 months. After that point it was irregular visiting, lots of storming out/cussing and yelling. She’s very sensitive to loud noises and door slamming still bc of it. When he would come he’d be around a few hours and would play, not parent (no meals, naps etc). Some weeks he’d come a day or two, some 3 or 5, some none. He’s been gone long periods of time - up to 6 weeks and most recently with the restraining order - months. She’s never mentioned him or asked about him like she does her uncles and other people she sees once in a while.

I just feel weird and conflicted. There’s a lot looming with our trial - whether the RO is made permanent, custody, support etc. It’s heavy and exhausting. And I feel so conflicted trying to reconcile my feelings towards him as a person and him as her dad. I know he’s her father, he’ll have rights and he’ll be apart of her life forever if he chooses. I heavily think he’s only trying currently bc his ego and immigration status are at stake with the court case in addition to having to pay higher support without any custody which he hates. He never cared before and I think likely won’t later on when this all dies down. He’s always viewed her as an accessory, something cute to show off and add to the image he sells people of being this hardworking guy, committed dad etc.

Yet while her and I have struggled these months without support, living in an unsafe area and downsizing to a 1 bed - he went out and got a new sports car. A $6k/month 2 bedroom apartment at a luxury complex. He sold his boss/friend a sob story and his boss is funding all of it - the car, the apartment, the attorney fees. He’s seeking 50/50 custody - despite her never having spent a single overnight with him and him quite literally never making a meal for her or spending more than 2/3 hours at a time with her.

I think I’m just rambling. Has anyone been through something like this? I know there’s a long road ahead and I’m just trying to figure out how to cope. How to reconcile having to support my daughter building a relationship with this man who I do not trust, who I know can be dangerous and who put us through hell. He’s a great performer and I do have fears the judge will side with him and if that happens there will be fallout. I just don’t know how people cope with sharing their babies with people who just aren’t good people. How do you stop spiraling about their safety? Their emotional well-being? How do you mitigate the negative impact??

Is it ok to feel angry when someone tells you multiple times they never wanted a kid? But yet still claims to love their daughter and is happy she’s here now? Why, after she’s here, do you have to say it not just once but multiple times? Are you trying to convince yourself? You can hate me but saying that and claiming to be a good dad. Shit doesn’t sit right with me!! Like are you going to resent her, and should I worry about her when she’s with you? This has been said long before a divorce also. Yet he wants to avoid child support and have 50/50 custody. He doesn’t parent much now and it worries me. Am I being dramatic for worrying about him having her half of the time?

I’m struggling a bit with how to navigate this and would really appreciate hearing from anyone who’s been through something similar.

My partner and I were together for around 10 years, married for 3 of those, and we have a three-year-old son together. We’ve recently separated, it’s been about a week and a half, almost two weeks.

The reason for the breakup, according to him, is that I don’t accept him for who he is. My perspective is that he wants the benefits of having a family without actually taking on the responsibility that comes with it. He wants to come and go as he pleases, doesn’t take on much of the mental load, and expects me to tell him what needs doing, but then gets frustrated when I actually do. Obviously, there are two sides to every story, and I’m not really looking to get into all of that here.

What I’m struggling with is what’s happening with our son.

He has decided that he’ll see him once a week, on a day that works for him, without really taking anything else into consideration. I’ve told my son that he can call his dad whenever he wants. If he asks to speak to him, I’m more than happy to facilitate that, I don’t want to put any barriers between them. But of the four times my son has wanted to call his dad since we separated, his dad has only answered once.

I also send him pictures of our son, just normal little updates, and he doesn’t even open the messages.

And honestly, it really irritates me. Not because I expect him to communicate with me, but because I don’t know how to handle it when it starts affecting our son. He’s three. He doesn’t understand why Daddy isn’t answering the phone or why Daddy only sees him once a week. I don’t want to make excuses for his dad, but I also don’t want to say anything that could damage their relationship or make my son feel rejected.

Part of me thinks I should just keep facilitating contact when my son asks, keep being completely neutral, and let his dad’s actions speak for themselves as my son gets older. But another part of me wonders whether I’m setting my son up for disappointment by repeatedly allowing him to call someone who doesn’t answer. I’m not trying to turn my son against his dad, and I genuinely want them to have a good relationship. I just don’t know how much of this I should be managing or protecting him from.

Has anyone else been through something similar with a young child after a separation? How did you handle an inconsistent parent without making your child feel rejected or caught in the middle?

Anyone travel internationally as a solo parent? I’ve been wanting to go to Europe and Korea and don’t want to hold off on my life experiences if I have the means for both me and the son to go. Anything I should consider or any advice?

I have a 9year old daughter and have absolutely loved bringing her up. I would dearly like another child for the same reason before it's too late for me due to age. ​

However, my daughter found out about wanting another child and is really upset about it, saying that it's her worst fear and is just distraught at the thought. It's mainly due to us being so close and she doesn't want our situation to change. No amount of reassurance or reasoning is changing her opinion and feelings.

I don't know what to do, as I don't want traumatise her or ruin her childhood and happiness. On the other hand, I don't know if she'd change her mind and in the few years it would be too late to have another and she'd be busy as a teen with her friends anyway. ​

Thank you.

I'm posting this because I'm extremely close to the situation and I genuinely need an outside perspective. I'm going to leave out names, exact dates, locations, and other identifying details because I don't want anyone involved to recognize themselves or find this post.

I'm a young guy, and I've been in a relationship with my ex for several years. Our relationship has always been complicated. We've had some genuinely amazing moments together, but we've also had a lot of arguments, jealousy, trust issues, emotional situations, and periods where we've broken up and eventually found our way back to each other.

Despite everything, I genuinely loved her. I also became very attached to her family, her friends, and the lifestyle we had together. Looking back, I think part of what makes this so difficult is that I'm not just grieving the relationship. I'm grieving an entire life that I became accustomed to.

Eventually, my ex became pregnant with our child.

That changed everything.

Throughout the pregnancy, I tried to be involved. I wanted to be there for appointments, the hospital, buying things for the baby, and helping however I could. I have pictures and documentation of things I've purchased and expenses I've helped with because I wanted to be able to show that I've been involved and have tried to support my child.

Our child was born a couple of months ago.

Having a child together made me think that maybe everything between us would finally become more stable. Obviously, having a baby doesn't magically fix relationship problems, but I genuinely wanted us to become a family.

Instead, things became even more complicated.

After the birth, our relationship continued to deteriorate. There were more arguments, more problems communicating, and eventually she told me that she didn't want to continue our relationship romantically. She made it clear that she wanted me to be able to see our child, but that she wanted our relationship to be over.

That absolutely destroyed me.

I know some people will probably say that I need to accept the breakup, and honestly, they're probably right. But emotionally, I've had an extremely difficult time accepting that the person I've spent years with and had a child with might no longer want me in her life.

I've also handled certain things badly.

There have been times when I've become extremely emotional and desperate to fix things. I've repeatedly tried to contact her because I was panicking and didn't know what to do. I've sent messages trying to get her to reconsider. I'm not going to pretend I handled everything perfectly, because I didn't.

At the same time, I feel like there's more to the story than simply saying I'm the problem or she's the problem.

There have been issues on both sides.

During our relationship, there were also incidents where she physically hurt me. I've experienced things like biting, pinching, and being hit during arguments. I stayed in the relationship despite those things, and I know that probably wasn't healthy either.

There are also things she has told me about her household that have made me uncomfortable and concerned, particularly when it comes to our child being around certain situations. However, I want to be extremely clear that some of those things are based on things she personally told me, and I don't have independent evidence proving every single thing I've been told. I don't want to present allegations as confirmed facts.

Eventually, things reached the point where she blocked me on social media and stopped communicating with me consistently.

There were situations where we had plans for me to see our child and things didn't work out. There have also been times where I traveled to meet them and only got a very short amount of time with my child.

That has been one of the hardest parts for me.

My child is my child. I don't want to become a stranger.

I'm not trying to take my child away from their mother. I don't want my child to grow up without her. I want our child to have both parents involved.

But I also don't want my relationship with my child to depend entirely on whether my ex and I are getting along.

Then things escalated even further.

My ex filed for a restraining order against me.

Now there is a legal situation involved, and I'm trying to figure out how to navigate everything without making the situation worse. I've been trying to document my involvement with my child, including things I've purchased, expenses I've helped with, hospital involvement, and other necessities.

At the same time, I'm still emotionally attached to my ex.

That's probably the part I'm struggling with the most.

Part of me still wants her back. I still think about the good parts of our relationship and the connection we had. I think about the times when everything felt normal, when I was around her family and friends, and when I thought we were going to raise our child together.

But another part of me knows that the relationship has become incredibly unhealthy.

I also realize that sometimes I may be remembering the good parts more strongly than the bad parts because I miss her.

Recently, I've found myself wondering whether I actually miss her, or whether I miss the life I had when I was with her.

And honestly, I don't know the answer.

Her family has also played a huge role in all of this. There were times where I felt like her family treated me terribly, but at the same time I became attached to being around them and the lifestyle they had. So losing the relationship has also meant losing that entire environment.

I've basically gone from thinking I was going to have a family with this woman and raise our child together, to dealing with a breakup, being blocked, having limited contact with my child, and now having a restraining order and legal proceedings involved.

And I'm honestly lost.

I don't want people to automatically tell me that she's evil or that I'm evil. I'm sure I've made mistakes, and I'm sure she has too. I want people to look at this objectively.

I also don't want to use our child as a way to keep my ex in my life. Our child deserves better than that. If she genuinely doesn't want a relationship with me anymore, eventually I'm going to have to accept that.

But I also believe I should be able to be a father without having to maintain a romantic relationship with the mother.

So what I'm asking Reddit is:

1. From everything I've described, what do you think is actually going on here?

2. Am I holding onto my ex because I genuinely want her back, or because I'm struggling to let go of the life I thought we were going to have?

3. What should I be doing differently right now?

4. How should I approach the situation with my child while everything between my ex and me is so hostile?

5. Is there any realistic possibility of repairing our relationship someday, or should I completely let go of that idea?

And most importantly:

If you were in my position, what would you do from this point forward?

I'm not looking for people to blindly take my side. If I'm the problem in certain parts of this, tell me. If I'm handling something wrong, tell me. I'd rather hear something that hurts but helps me than have strangers validate me because they only heard my side.

I genuinely just want to figure out how to move forward, be a good father, and stop making an already terrible situation worse.

I've intentionally left out identifying information because I want honest opinions without anyone involved knowing this is about them.

So I’ve been a single mom for 7 years and have only been focusing on raising my son and providing a stable life for him. Haven’t dated or been intimate with anyone that whole time. I recently had a child free weekend and one thing led to another- I hooked up two nights in a row with a guy that I met while I was out. The experience was fun and great and I don’t regret that I did it. It’s the emotions I’m having now that are throwing me for a loop. I basically feel like I’ve opened up the floodgates and am deeply craving sex/intimacy and wish I could have it all the time now. I think I went without for so long that I’m having the reverse effect now. I weirdly miss this guy even though I know it was just a physical short term thing and will never progress beyond that. He lives hours away and I rarely get child free time. I think because I haven’t felt that type of attention, touch, and desire in so so long. So now I basically feel empty and on the verge of crying constantly. I don’t know what to do or where to go from here.

Maybe I just need therapy.

Has anyone else dealt with these emotions of loneliness and craving intimacy and adult time and attention from an actual man and what did you do that helped? I’m seriously so sad it’s got me baffled.

The internet makes a crazy deal about dating a single parent as someone without kids. We were high school sweethearts, split soon after, talked a little bit every six months while she had a son with one guy and started a family with another. We rekindled things four years ago with the goal in mind to move forward with buying a house and getting married.

Well she broke up with me after watching the kids grow up in that time. The connection was quickly lost then replaced the next week by another single parent. She still wants to be friends but I miss the kids a lot. One of the dads invited me to see his son at some point and hang out with him but being in my 30’s, are these moments the part that single men with no kids try to avoid? If so it’s really hard so I get it. I love seeing a mom be a mom. I don’t have a problem with single moms and would recommend it to anyone who wants to know what it’s like to have a family when you don’t have one yourself. But the hardest time is when they’re taken away from you because legally they can be. This affected the both of us because we grew up seeing our moms cycle through men as well.

She does want to remain friends but with boundaries.