I'm a single parent looking for a casual dating thing, but I'm scared of how it will affect my son.

I went through an extremely traumatic experience 6 years ago. My therapist said that finding an online community was a good idea, as others perspectives could help me adjust and move forward.My wife passed away from complications during childbirth. 2 weeks after. The whole experience was a nightmare. An odd mix of extreme sadness, trauma, happiness, excitement, dread, and fear. I've been raising our son ever since.All in all, I have to commend myself because I think I've been doing a good job. Our guy is creative, fun, happy, and seemingly well adjusted. He marches to the beat of his own drum, dresses how he likes, and is kind to the other kids at school. He gets great comments from his teachers and daycare providers.We talk about his mother often. He asks me what she was like, and I tell her of her love for life and her creativity, and how he must take after her. He loves to draw and make colorful landscapes with little people in them. His mother drew, so we often go through her notebooks and I think that's where he gets a lot of his ideas.However, I am getting pretty lonely. I've always told myself that I wouldn't date until he was old enough to understand and accept what's going on. I don't think it's a good idea now, and I'm ok with that. His well being comes first, and if I started dating someone then I think it might confuse him, or minimize the impact that his mother should have on his life. There have been opportunities to date that I've squashed for this reason, and I'm ok with that. It just gets really lonely.I go to chatrooms like Omegle to connect with people. It's fun but extremely unfulfilling. I want to connect with someone and it's an itch that I can't seem to scratch. Even something extremely casual would be fine. I'm just horny I guess lol, but I feel so guilty about being horny. Maybe because I know that I'm putting myself first instead of him. I have needs too. I'm ready to have a sexual relationship but I don't think we're ready for another partner in our lives. I struggle with this quite a bit...Has anyone had any similar experiences? How do you balance your individual needs vs the needs for your family? Thanks! via /r/Parenting https://ift.tt/2NCYYdK