Meeting Other Single Moms on Ok Cupid

I've met some really cool people thanks to Ok Cupid. Two new friends came from that online dating site.

Two? Two friends? You might be wondering if I'm dating two people at the same time. No, I'm not two-timing anyone. Despite what you are thinking, I ended up using Ok Cupid to find other single moms to be my friends.

Using a dating website was perfect for me. Each mom has all of her interests listed. I could see if we liked the same music, the same books, the same movies. If we had enough in common, I took the plunge and contacted them. Just like dating...except, not.

Thankfully, I didn't scare any of the women. As single moms, they have been in my situation. Those who are divorced know the pains of losing friends through the separation process. They knew why I was seeking potential friends who might understand my current situation. Our conversation might have gone something like this:

"Hi, I know you didn't list yourself as gay or bisexual, so I hope I don't weird you out by contacting you. I'm a single mom like you. I was wondering if you wanted to hang out sometime in your free time?"


"You'll have to do a lot more than that to weird me out. What did you have in mind?"


"Just something simple like you coming over to paint my house."


"What?"


"Just kidding.  Want to meet at a central playground where our kids can play?"


With one mom, we first met with our kids for an unconventional playdate. When the kids were out of earshot, we detailed our post-marital dating experiences. Our second meeting was at a sports bar where she felt me up while teaching me to play pool. Since then, I've done some writing for her business and we keep in touch loosely on twitter, but we live too far apart to do much more.

The other mom lives practically in my neighborhood. We united over a mutual love of awesome music, live shows, dancing, her possession of a hookah, and the fact that she homeschooled her kids.  What a freakin' small world. And here I thought that only religious freaks homeschooled their kids.

The later mom and I are getting together more regularly. Over a drink, we commiserate about our exes and our kids and then wow each other with our latest outings.

With both friends, we love to tell people that we met on a dating site.  So why am I so embarrassed to tell people that I've met guys online?