Should single mothers date? What I assumed was not a statement that would end with a question mark gained one in a recent Washington Post online discussion. One of our columnists at Literary Mama, Rachel Sarah, was recently a guest blogger at the Post -- on Leslie Morgan Steiner's blog "On Balance." The author of a column and a forthcoming book both titled Single Mom Seeking, Rachel wrote about her dating life in a blog post titled "Single Mom Seeks Playdates, Blind Dates", hoping to start a civilized discussion. She was sadly disappointed.

While many people wrote supportive responses, the serverity of the attacks made on her character, her choices, and her life stunned me. Before reading these responses, I had been thinking -- "well, I'm a single mom who is starting to date again, maybe I should write about that, too." Now, I know that I won't. I might write around the edges of it, but I cannot make myself that vulnerable. First of all, as I have explained before, I can't for legal reasons, but even more than that, I am a teacher in a conservative state. Writing about my dating life -- if it got interesting enough -- could put my teaching career at risk. There are many people out there who don't like to see a mother dating.

So, what is the problem? A single woman who dates is ok. A mother who loves her husband is ok. But why is a mother who dates so problematic? This kind of reaction makes me happy to simply stay home.