It’s true. Many rules were meant to be broken. But not when it comes to the rules of dating as a single parent. Lisa Cohn and William Merkel, Ph.D., are authors of the award-winning One Family, Two Family, New Family: Stories and Advice For Stepfamilies and have excellent advice for the who what when where why and how of single-parent dating. They recently held a Q&A session with MSN and offered some of their top tips. Below are some of the highlights.

• The best time to inform your date that you have a child is immediately.
• The best places for single parents to meet other single parents are places where parents hang out: the park the roller rink the movies.
• Don’t introduce your date to your children unless there’s a chance that it can become a serious relationship-especially if your kids are a bit older. Also, keep it casual and low-key when they meet; don’t introduce your date as your future spouse!
• Use email, cell phones and even Internet dating to establish and keep connections with new dates and companions since single parents have limited time as it is; make use of the odd moments during the day and in the evening to get and stay acquainted.
• Don’t scare off your companion but make your intentions pretty clear early in the relationship. If you never want to get married again, let that be known; if you’re looking for a spouse and soon, that should be shared as well.
• Happier parents are better parents so don’t feel guilty about wanting to find love and spending some time with a date; everyone needs to have some adult time in their lives and it’s okay.

Want more advice? Check out the full session on MSN or the entire award-winning book. Single-parent dating can work; you just have to be smart about it. And when in doubt, discover what the experts have to say.