Topic: blended families

Splitsville: If You Want The Kids, Come And Get ‘Em

Splitsville: If You Want The Kids, Come And Get 'Em

Welcome to Splitsville. This weekly column will focus on parenting after a divorce, break-up or one-night stand that didn’t end like a Katherine Heigl movie.

With all the challenges that face blended families, sometimes it’s the smaller details that end up becoming a problem. When parents go through the courts, they normally set up a visitation schedule and settle educational choices. The cause of the majority of co-parenting arguments, the money, is put through a calculator and signed off on by the judge. The large-scale issues hopefully all get addressed. But that leaves some of the smaller incidentals, like the driving, up for serious debate.

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Splitsville: How To Integrate Step-Parents Into Your Family

Splitsville: How To Integrate Step-Parents Into Your Family

Welcome to Splitsville. This weekly column will focus on parenting after a divorce, break-up or one-night stand that didn’t end like a Katherine Heigl movie.

Blended families aren’t really known for their simplicity. The family structure is rarely predictable and the schedule is hectic, to say the least. But hopefully, every group can find a rhythym that works for them. It takes lots of communication and plenty of give-and-take, but a compromise can be reached!

Once a family hits this precarious balance, it’s hard to break from the habit. You begin to build a routine and no one wants to throw a screw in the system. And nothing alters a blended families balance more than a new addition.

That’s right! Enter the step-parents. More »

Splitsville: ‘Two Daddies Makes Me Special, Duh.’

Splitsville: 'Two Daddies Makes Me Special, Duh.'

Welcome to Splitsville. This weekly column will focus on parenting after a divorce, break-up or one-night stand that didn’t end like a Katherine Heigl movie.

Blended families have a notoriously difficult time with the titles for each parent. Even more confusing can be explaining those pet names and relationships to those outside the family. My daughter has come up with her own system, but not everyone understands it. More »