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Feb 2017
Start the Conversation….
By…Laura, WAF Board Member and Mom of four It occurred to me on my way back from China recently how modern day people still look at me dumbfounded when I say I have a blended family. I was sitting on a plane and the gentlemen next to me (a retired licensed clinical social worker) introduced himself and I did as well. As the conversation...
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Dec 2016Courageous Love and Involvement Saves the Family, But We Are Working Towards More!
by, Katie Skoloff As a ten-year parent of two inherited boys who are my only children, I have encountered what feels like almost every legality in regards to being their father’s wife and their other mom. With a take-charge personality and with the full support of my husband, I have sought out a lot of responsibility with our boys- from PTA to carpool, to room-mom,...
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Nov 2016The Good and the Bad News: “There are No Instructions”
By, Jim-WAF Contributor I have never written a blog before, but the relevance “We are Families” really struck me. I am a bio-dad in a blended family with 4 children – ages ranging from 6 to 22. We have been a blended family for over 7 years now, and I think I have literally seen just about everything, and made enough mistakes to fill...
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Nov 2016Fear Not Change
By Mike-Veteran Bio Dad in a Blended Family, and Independent Thinker: Einstein once said that the world as we have created it is a process of our thinking. It cannot be changed without changing our thinking. This reminds me of the “Grandma’s ham story”. In preparation for a three generation Christmas dinner, a mother was teaching her daughter how to make the family ham. She...
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Oct 2016It’s Every Girl’s Dream-Part III in the Series-The Marriage Comes First
By Mary Ann Lawson, Psychologist From the Series: “It’s Every Girl’s Dream” Pillar 2: “The marriage remains the primary relationship in the family. That is especially tough when the parenting relationship preceded the marriage. There are mixed loyalties, leftover feelings of guilt, and awkward new roles to traverse. Prioritize the marriage, do not undermine each other, and make sure the children get to be children.”...
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Aug 2016It’s Every Girl’s Dream-Part II in the series
By Mary Ann Lawson, Psychologist From the series :It’s Every Girl’s Dream” “Remember that everyone “both spouses, ex-spouses, children, and even pets!) have experienced significant losses prior to the formation of the new family. Everyone in the mix has been hurt. Be kind.” Building a relationship (whether between two people or a whole family system) is a lot like building a house. When building a...
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Aug 2016Social Media and Teenagers
Written from perspective of blended Mom, Laura Have you ever looked at your teen and wondered who they would be without the constant disruption of social media? Though we are all guilty of uploading “in the moment” photos instead of relishing in the moment, the frequency by which teens use social media is astronomical. Those of us who never had the experience of living...
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Aug 2016The Beauty of Remarriage: Healthy, Happy Families
By: Anonymous Contributor, Loving Mom So often, we are flooded with negative messages about the problems that blended families encounter. To be sure, creating a successful family unit that involves parents outside that family unit is often very difficult. Remarriage is also, however, an opportunity, filled with the potential to give children of divorce the one thing that, respectfully speaking, their two biological parents for myriad...
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Jun 2016It’s every girl’s dream…advice from Mary Ann-Part 1
By Mary Ann Lawson, Psychologist In my over 30 years of counseling experience I have never heard a little girl say, “when I grow up I want to be a stepmother!”. And yet, there are literally millions of women in the United States today who have taken on that “role”. I suspect many of us (yes, I am a Blended (step) mother) sometimes feel...
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Jun 2016This ain’t no ordinary Father’s Day-get to work!
By Mike, So this is a milestone for me – my very first blog. As someone accustomed to highly technical manuals and procedures, and just being a guy’s guy, the thought of writing a conversational and casual blog is borderline terrifying. However, there really cannot be a complete thought on the success of a blended family without the voice and commitment of the dads. ...
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