5 Tips to Help You Thrive While Dating a Divorced Dad

A few years ago, I went out a couple of times with a divorced dad whose daughter happens to be the same age as mine. We spent our first date talking about our kids and the challenges of parenting — and realizing we have a lot in common. Yet we stress about getting our kids into the right kindergarten and constantly schlep our unappreciative preschoolers to museums and They Might Be Giants concerts.

of differences in how children react to divorce, so it’s not possible to say how everyone will deal with the situation—but when you have divorced parents dating ​.

At a family dinner the other night, my cousin recounted a joke she played on me. Grace tried to embarrass me while I was pumping gas last week. I chatted with a woman on a different pump as she wiped the overflow of gasoline that spilled on her car. Grace lowered her window and called out “Honey! Are you almost finished?

We don’t want to be late, sweetheart! My family is well aware of my history of pranking Grace. So, her story was well-received and had everyone laughing. That is, everyone except for my year-old daughter, Gianna. Instead, Gianna jumped up, gave Grace a high-five and thanked her for ending my conversation. She continued to ask Grace to describe the woman I talked with and then thanked her again. I was surprised by Gianna’s response because her mother and I have been divorced for over four years.