I love that BMWK has dedicated an entire month to blended families. According to smart stepfamilies.com, 40 percent of married couples with children are actually blended families. Dedicating a week to discuss it just makes sense. I personally don't know life outside of a blended family. My parents ended their relationship very early, and my dad married and began a new family. … [Read more...]
Search Results for: blended family
13 Children by 4 Different Women: 6 Lessons from the First Blended Family
As a Pastor and marriage coach dealing primarily with engaged couples I often relate the marriages and relationship scenarios of the Bible to what modern families face. Culturally there are major differences, however many couples find comfort in realizing that much of what they experience today, couples have been wrestling with since the beginning of time. As blended … [Read more...]
How Do You Answer Your Child’s Questions About Your Blended Family?
One day recently I picked up my 14-year-old daughter from her grandmother’s house with my 5-year-old son in tow. As we waited for my daughter, my son wandered into another room and returned holding something behind his back, a look of horror plastered across his face. “Mom!” he said, “ What in the world is this!” He pulled a photo from behind his back. It was a picture of me … [Read more...]
Blend Family Week: 3 Phrases to Never Say to a Blended Family
I grew up in a blended family due to my parents marrying one another after previous marriages, then having me. They both had children from their previous marriage, which one, my older brother, lived with us. My older brother and I are literally night and day. He is 6’4, 250 lbs, and I am 5’7 140 lbs. It was very evident when you saw us together that we weren’t full blood … [Read more...]
Blended Family Week: 10 Tips to Make Your Blended Family Work For You
Remember the Brady Bunch? When the show came on it played that much too familiar song that went something like... "Here's a story of a lovely lady... and a man named Brady ... and that's the way they ALL became the Brady Bunch... " In that perfect square with that perfect house and all six kids coming together in harmony. Every episode ended in a resolution to whatever … [Read more...]
Blended Family Week: 5 Tips That Guarantee a Fun and Stress-Free Blended Family Vacation!
Blended families are beautiful but they can also be stressful. Everyone’s learning each other’s likes and dislikes, habits and quirks while maintaining the new daily routine. The stress can spill over to vacations as well, especially if you’re a newly blended family. Here are a few tips to help you manage the stress on your blended family vacation. Compromise & keep … [Read more...]
Blended Family Week: 5 Brilliant Strategies for Successfully Blending Families
Everyone with children remarrying after divorce hopes to successfully blend their new spouse and all of the kids, whether his, hers or both into a loving, supportive, functional family. As many of us discover, the reality of blending families is a lot harder than it appears to be from the outside looking in. While completing research for my book, Living Happier After: 20 … [Read more...]
7 Steps to a Well Blended Family
I come from a family that was so well blended I wasn't even aware that our family dynamic wasn't the norm until I was at least in high school. The term blended family was new to me. Even though my parents each came into their union with children from previous marriages, my sisters were just my sisters and mommy and daddy were just that. I distinctly remember my mother saying … [Read more...]
Another Blended Family Love Story: How My Husband Became “Daddy”
Recently, I wrote an article about my Father before he became my Daddy, where I shared my experience growing up in a blended family home. Now, I am going to share my experience as a parent allowing my spouse to raise my child. My family knew my husband’s family from church many years before we got together. My sister teased me about my him becoming my husband even before we … [Read more...]
Wedding Video: This Blended Family is Ready for Love!
The wedding of Lora and Abdul Muhammad is one of the most beautiful celebrations of love we've seen so far. There are male and female dancers performing to Ready for Love by India Arie as the wedding party enters. And, they had their children (as they are blended family), their parents, family and friends there to share in the love. Check out their wedding video and then leave … [Read more...]
Blended Families Week: 5 Tips for Blended Family Vacations
It’s ‘Blended Family’ week here on BlackandMarriedwithKids.com and with that in mind we have a few tips that will make each and every blended family vacation a happy one packed with memories. Here are our tips to help you plan for a blended family vacation. Family meeting time…. Before booking any ‘blended family’ (especially if your kids are pre-teens/teens) vacation, … [Read more...]
Blended Families Week: 7 Things I Liked about Growing up in a Blended Family
I've had a blended family since I was a toddler. All I've known is having 4 parents. I like to think that I was lucky enough to have two sets of parents growing up, as it definitely made my upbringing better. This is more than having two Christmases (although that was definitely a perk). I had 4 adults who were proud to call me their daughter. I lived with my mom and my … [Read more...]
3 Things You Need To Know About Blended Family Problems
Believe it or not, life is real and not a fairytale. All over the world blended families are living happily and co-existing harmoniously. Ideally, we’d love to hear that everyone just “clicked’ immediately but I’m sure we all know or have been involved in some incidents that didn’t go so smoothly. Change can sometimes be a challenge but its possible. How can we make the … [Read more...]
Accidental Friends – Our Blended Family Story
I have this friend and I want to tell you about her. She is so super cool. I've known her for about 15 years. We met in my home town in Indiana. She is very kind and always helpful. She is a hardworking, God fearing Christian woman with her own catering business in Indianapolis. She refers to my son as "our son" and I love her daughter. In fact her daughter has spent the … [Read more...]
3 Ingredients for a Peaceful Blended Family
Have children from previous relationships? Wondering how to blend into one happy family? Here are some tips I found useful when I got married. I had a two year old son and my husband had no children, so he stepped into the role like a pro to help me raise my son. Excuse me, our son. Below are the three main requirements I’ve learned in the past 16 years that are essential for a … [Read more...]