One thing that could make single parent dating a whole lot easier

In association with Match

I’ve been dating on and off for about ten months now and I’m actually really enjoying it. I’m happy on my own but I’m open to meeting new people and that feels nice – I can enjoy getting to know someone over dinner without any pressure and I’ve met some really interesting and fun people.

I don’t know if it’s an age thing, and generally having a lot more confidence, but I feel more relaxed and positive about dating than I ever have before. It’s pretty cool.

It’s very different to when I dated ten or even five years ago. The fact that Belle is now 15 and happy to stay home alone makes a massive difference. When I think back to my earlier experiences of dating as a single parent I mainly remember the painful logistics of the whole thing.

Specifically, babysitting.

I mean think about it, it doesn’t matter how much effort you make getting your feet ‘summer ready’ or curling your hair in sexy waves around your face if you end up with a small toddler casually sat next to you at dinner does it?

(Just to clarify – I have never taken a toddler on a first date, mine or anyone else’s. This is one of my favourite ever pictures of Belle though, known affectionately in the family as ‘big sandwich’.)

Friends and family are usually quick to offer themselves up for babysitting, but how many of them really want to give up their Saturday nights on a regular basis? If you’re dating regularly you can soon feel like you’ve used up all your favours.

The alternative is to pay for a babysitter, but then suddenly that casual couple of hours meeting someone for a drink on a Thursday evening has cost you twenty quid before you’ve so much as got a gin and tonic in your hand – not ideal. If this sounds like you then read on, because Match has a solution.

(I did once get given a bag of yogurts on a first date, but even then the monetary value of the yogurts wouldn’t have compensated me for the cost of babysitting.)

I remember when my kids were small, the hours I had apart from them felt so valuable. I felt like I needed to be doing something productive with every single minute. Going on a first date carried the risk of it turning out to be someone like this man, or that guy I went out with who couldn’t stop twiddling the hairs on his facial mole.

But then…

Then you go on that date where it just WORKS. You get butterflies in your tummy and your cheeks turn pink and you look at your phone and discover that three hours have passed in what feels like 20 minutes and suddenly it all feels worth it. That risk really was worth taking.

If you’re serious about finding a relationship then you do need to be prepared to call in the favours or invest in some babysitting, at least in the early days until you get to the ‘snuggling on the sofa watching Netflix and eating takeaway’ stage.

This summer Match is offering to invest in a bit of babysitting for you, so you can save your money for doing something fun on your date. (Perhaps a chat over a big sandwich?)

Get free babysitting with Match and Yoopies

When you think of popular online dating sites I’m sure that Match would be right up there. Match is a very well established player, but is definitely not FOR players. Match has more dates, more relationships and more marriages than any other dating site and the aim is for daters to find genuine, long term love.

To support and empower single parents get back in the dating game, Match has teamed up with babysitting service Yoopies to take at least one of the stresses out of going on that first date. They can’t help you come up with any witty chat over dinner or make the choice for you between your top two ‘awesome yet subtle cleavage’ dresses, but at least they can help you get to the date in the first place.

Between now and the end of September any new or re-registering Match member will qualify for three hours of free babysitting, plus the usual membership fee to Yoopies waived. That’s got to help hasn’t it? 

Babysitting sorted? Check.

Money saved? Check.

True love on the horizon? Anything’s possible…

Sign up to Match and claim your free babysitting now.