Steparenting

Luke and Laura have been married for 2 years. This is Luke's first marriage and Laura's second. Laura has two daughters from her first marriage ages 8 and 13.

Luke is fed up with the girls. Their father is always late with the child support so Laura always has to use their money for the girls needs.

Laura is always trying to make him their father by having the girls call him dad. When Luke tries to discipline the girls they yell at him you are not our dad and Laura steps in and reminds Luke she is their parent and will take care of it.

So:
1. The girls are a mess because they are in a split loyalty between parents and a conflict of loyalty between their dad and step dad.

2. The mom is a mess because she is in a conflict of loyalty between her girls and her husband.

3. The step dad is a mess because he is being forced to be a dad to children that he is not a dad to and is in a loose loose situation yet he did marry someone with two children.

Moral of the story: Seek out some family therapy because blended families are very complex.

Young Children of Divorce

For young children it is very difficult for them to understand why their parents are no longer together.

Sue is 4 years of age and is very angry all of the time. She has begun to wet her bed again and to have temper tantrums. When asked why are you so angry she replied "I do not like it when daddy lets his girlfriend sleep in his bed with him! Only Mommy's' and daddy's' should sleep together!"

When divorced parents begin dating it is best to keep their young children out of it. Have an adult relationship on your time not theirs.

The moral of this story is: Young children exposed to a parent sleeping with someone other than the other parent is just too difficult for them to understand.