Tag: #BlendedFamilyLove #WhenLoveComesWithAFamily #BlendedParenting #StepParentingJourney #LoveAndGrace #FamilyByLove #BlendingHearts #FaithAndFamily #GraceInParenting #LoveBeyondLabels
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The Kouri Richins Murder Trial: Hurt Inside A Blended Family
Sibling rivalry isn’t a new idea. It has existed for as long as families have existed. Brothers and sisters compete for attention, argue, compare themselves to one another, and sometimes carry those wounds far into adulthood. Most parents eventually come to accept that some level of rivalry between siblings is simply part of growing up.…
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When Adult Children Choose One Side of the Family
The Lesson My Husband Taught Me About Letting Go of Adult Children Growing up in a large Catholic family, there was an ever-present value instilled in us from the time we were small: Family is everything. Not because my parents were manipulative, abusive, narcissistic, or anything that could twist that idea into something unhealthy. It…
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The Truth About Loyalty in Blended Families
I’ve had some readers ask me to clarify this from my article “When Love Is a Tug of War: The Step-Parent Reality.” In the article it states: “Loyalty doesn’t always attach to the person who is safest. Sometimes it attaches to the person who is most unpredictable. Children will defend the parent whose love feels…
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When the News Never Stops: How to Raise Grounded Kids in a Culture of Outrage and Division
When it comes to politics, is it more important to share with our children our preferred candidate and explain why we agree with everything they say, or to explain that we support the one whose values align most closely with our own? Politics used to be something adults discussed during election years. Now it’s woven…
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Faith, Family, and the Traditions That Keep Us Together
Blending families means blending traditions — and that can be both heartwarming and challenging. When my husband and I combined our families, I thought our long-standing traditions would bring everyone closer. Instead, I learned that true connection comes from creating new memories together. For any blended or step-family, the most meaningful traditions aren’t the ones…
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The Family Circus: Laughing Through the Beautiful Chaos of Big Family Life
Some people ask if I’d do it all over again — raising a big family with all its chaos, noise, and never-ending grocery bills.That’s a hard question to answer. What I won’t say is that there weren’t good times — because there were so many.Children learn so much growing up in a big family. From…
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When Love Comes with a Blended Family
I’m a mom of four biological adult children, three adult stepchildren, and three adopted children from foster care. When my husband and I met, we were both divorced, each with three biological children of our own. We fell in love fast — and five months later, we were married. Some people have asked why we…
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Step-Parenting: Finding Love and Grace in a Maze of Contradictions
Becoming a step-parent is one of those roles no one can fully prepare you for. You don’t get a handbook, and everyone around you seems to have an opinion. The trouble is, those opinions often contradict each other. If you lean in and take an active role, people whisper that you’re trying to replace the…