[JustJo]

I'm a mom of a great (almost) 15 year old boy, and I stayed single until he was 13...primarily because I didn't trust my own judgment on the safety and suitability of any step-parent I would bring into his life.

Contrary to the common wisdom that says "don't introduce your kids to your partner until you're serious", I would never recommend getting "serious" with someone before bringing them into your child's life....at least enough to see how they interacted in the course of normal daily (sometimes challenging) life. That means more than a weekend....more than a trip to an amusement park. It means getting ready for school, haggling over homework, family dinner, and preferably some normal types of outings. People have different parenting styles, and blending families is far more difficult than most people want to admit.

It's easy to look through the rose-colored glasses of love (or lust) and think everything will be fine. But, no matter how much a potential partner loves their child, their former partner's child, their neice, their nephew, or their grandchild....it's no guarantee that they're going to love yours, or that your parenting styles won't clash.