December 11th, 2012

The past week, we were talking about remarriage and divorce. Coming from a mixed family, I kinda have an idea of what it's like. We learned reasons for why those kinds of families are hard and why people (Parents and step-parents) act the way they do. We also learned how to avoid problems that come with mixed families. Some of those being: Let the biological parent do the heavy disciplining, make decisions together as husband and wife, even if those decisions regard the kids, and the step parents need to act as if they were an uncle or aunt to the kids at first. I thought some of these were interesting. the first two make sense but I'm still kind of confused about the third. Does treating the step kids like they are their nieces and nephews spoil the kids? Or just make them feel more comfortable around them? We learned in class that it takes about 2 or more years to achieve a sense of normality in the home once a step parent is introduced. I agree with that. By then, the kids kind of have an idea of who this new person is and how life will be with them in the family. In my opinion, the younger the kids are, the easier it is to adapt to a new parent. I think this is because kids that are older have a harder time accepting the new parent than younger kids, especially if the new parent is replacing a deceased parent, as was the case in my family. It's hard to realize that you have a new mom and your other mom won't be coming back to take over again. I knew that I had to either accept or reject her. It was hard for a long time, but I think we have finally come to terms with each other and it has made a world of difference in our home and in our relationship. Anyways.. That's it for now!