Blended Families
Did you know that one third of all children in the United States (US) are expected to live in a stepfamily before they reach the age of 18[helpguide.org 2008]? While some people consider blended families abnormal, they can be just as good as a “regular” family. With blended families becoming more common, there are more studies being done to show both the similarities and differences between “regular” and blended families.

Although blended families will probably never be considered “traditional”, they are becoming more common every year. Some common myths about stepfamilies are that children of divorce are considered damaged. Some children do have problems adjusting to a new family. They may feel resentment for new …show more content…

Even though the child may become angry with the step parent, the child’s well being must come first. On the contrary, some stepparents will pull away from their step children because they do not feel like they have a right to “parent” the child. Some will step back from conflicts between their spouse and step child because of this feeling instead of figuring out what they can do to help the situation.

There is a common myth is that “steps” are evil and mean. Not all steps come into the family with the thought that “these aren’t my kids so I don’t care about them” or “my step is just trying to replace such and such family member”. As a child, my grandmother passed away fairly young and after many years, my grandfather remarried. I remembered my grandma and felt resentment for my dad’s new stepmother. It was many years before I realized that she was not trying to take my grandma’s place and to accept her as part of the family. On the other hand I recently remarried and am fortunate enough to have a man who loves my sons and treats them as he does his own daughter. I also do the same for my stepdaughter. I have never treated her as anything less than mine. Our children have been very accepting of the family we make. There are no “steps” between them; they are just brothers and a sister. They are split up a lot because they spend