Sometimes I wondered what my life would've been like with both parents involved, but then again, I'm thankful it played out the way it did. Obviously, the struggle isn't something I liked, but I learned a lot from it. Growing up with a single mom definitely molded me into the person I am today. I could make a list of pros and cons about single parenthood, but I decided to make a list explaining what it's like to be in a relationship with someone who grew up with a single parent. Because we aren't like everyone else.

1. First of all, we're very strong. We can manage difficult situations because we've been through a lot of them already at a young age. We can handle almost anything.

2. Expect our single parent to be extremely over-protective. Yes, he/she is going to ask you a million questions about yourself. Yes, he/she is going to be weary of you until proven otherwise.

3. We're hard workers, because we learned how to be when we watched our single parent push through hardship and work their ass off to make enough money to pay the bills.

4. We know that we don't NEED anyone or a relationship, so don't expect us to chase you. We watched our single parent do it all on his/her own. No one NEEDS anybody. And we definitely don't need you.

5. We're extremely loyal. Growing up with only one parent forced us, in a way, to know nothing but loyalty. We're protective of our family, and tend to guard our single parent. In a relationship, we have that same loyalty.

6. We're attracted to independence.

7. We know how to cook. Which, to be honest, we don't necessarily LIKE cooking, because when we cooked as a child, it was because we HAD to, not because we WANTED to. But, we know how to and that's all that matters.

8. If our parent doesn't like you, we probably won't either. Sorry...

9. We don't mean to, but in a way, we slightly fear commitment. Just because we saw what our single parent went through.

10. We know the importance of waiting until you have your shit together to bring a child into the world. We grew up not having it all. But we obviously want our children to be able to say different. We will do whatever it takes to make sure our children don't know struggle.

11. We know better than anyone that you never know what's going on behind closed doors. Very few people knew we had major problems at home. Which is why we don't usually judge people without knowing. Because you never know. We know that.

12. We're private people. Like I said up there, very few people knew our lives. We like to keep it that way. We like to keep our private details about our lives private. So if you're the type to tell everyone our business about our relationship, stay far far away.

13. We know how to be optimistic about any situation. You may find yourself coming to us for a pep talk.

14. You're gonna have to get used to how close we are with our parent. We tell them (almost) everything.

15. We know how to do stuff on our own. Laundry, cooking, cleaning, sewing, fixing things, etc. We can do it all because we had no choice but to. Wife us up.

16. We're always told that we act older than our actual age. Probably because we were forced to grow up too fast. But we're not complaining because it ended up making us more mature than we would be without it.

17. Laziness and immaturity get on our nerves. They just do.

18. We learned to not be afraid of being alone. We spent a lot of time alone while our parent was away at work. We didn't like it, but we learned how to endure it and accept it.

19. Introduce us to your family at some point. Make us feel like part of the family. It gives us a sense of belonging.

20. We will take care of you. Not if you're lazy. But we have a parental instinct instilled in us. Sometimes, we had to cater to our parent. We definitely know how to cater 2 u (word to Beyoncé).

See, dating someone with a single parent isn't so bad! Let's see, we're mature, loyal, realistic people who can cook and clean and love you a lot. What more could you even ask for? Sometimes we like our alone time, but other than that, as long as you're proving to us that you're giving it your all, we will definitely give the same (if not more) in return.