You need to not think of online dating as dating - it's more like online meeting. Like casually meeting someone at a party. You could talk to a lot of people at a party before finding one you would actually want to date. You may need to go on a lot of coffee dates before finding someone worth dating.
Being more active in activities where you might find like-minded people is good too - it's just that at my age, most people are coupled up, so online dating at least ensures (mostly) that the people you are meeting are actually available and interested in dating.
If your kids are still at home, how about a single parents group? There at least you know you'd be meeting men with kids themselves.
