{"id":752521,"date":"2024-11-29T13:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-11-29T18:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cafemom.com\/?p=752521"},"modified":"2024-11-26T13:59:15","modified_gmt":"2024-11-26T18:59:15","slug":"single-mom-took-toddler-on-first-date-led-to-marriage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cafemom.com\/lifestyle\/single-mom-took-toddler-on-first-date-led-to-marriage","title":{"rendered":"I Was a Single Mom &amp; Took My Toddler on a First Date \u2014 We&#8217;ve Been Married for 11 Years Now"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Many <a href=\"https:\/\/cafemom.com\/news\/boy-asks-mom-late-father-taking-too-long-heaven\">single parents<\/a> will tell you that dating and having kids can be tough. Plenty of people want to have a family and don\u2019t mind <a href=\"https:\/\/cafemom.com\/lifestyle\/divorce-dating-again-issues\">dating someone with kids<\/a>, but that\u2019s not always the case. Chelsie Dort\u00a0joined Tinder in 2013, when her son, Jaxden, was 2 years old. She realized quickly that many men told her they didn\u2019t mind that she <a href=\"https:\/\/cafemom.com\/lifestyle\/relationship-with-partner-before-kids\">had a child<\/a>, and then bolted when things started to get serious. That is until Chelsie\u00a0decided to change her dating strategy completely and took her toddler on a first date.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The mom explained in an Instagram post on her account, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/lifewiththedorts\/\">@lifewiththedorts<\/a>, that when she started talking to a man named Bedford, she told him she\u2019d be bringing Jaxden on their first date. He agreed, and that first date led to a marriage and four more children. Taking Jaxden to meet Bedford may have been the best decision Chelsie\u00a0ever made.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>More from CafeMom:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/cafemom.com\/parenting\/single-mom-and-foster-care-journey\">I\u2019m a Single Mom &amp; \u2018Foster Care Was Written in the Stars for Me\u2019<\/a><br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Many single parents will tell you that dating and having kids can be tough. Plenty of people want to have a family and don\u2019t mind dating someone with kids, but that\u2019s not always the case. Chelsie Dort\u00a0joined Tinder in 2013, when her son, Jaxden, was 2 years old. She realized quickly that many men told [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":752524,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"apple_news_api_created_at":"2024-11-29T18:00:19Z","apple_news_api_id":"d79ad98d-3aa9-4e92-9f18-091ae0e4f41e","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2024-11-29T18:00:19Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAD\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/w==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/A15rZjTqpTpKfGAka4OT0Hg","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"nota_seo_page_title":"","nota_seo_page_description":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[87,71,85,79],"tags":[24951,436,927,590,308,298,4342,7693,24950],"featured":[],"internal-tag":[],"series":[],"class_list":{"2":"type-post"},"acf":[],"apple_news_notices":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Mom Took Toddler on First Date That Led to 11-Year Marriage<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Tired of short relationships, Chelsie Dort took her toddler on a first date expecting it to be the last. 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