You were terrific and now are part of our Sesame fun and furry family.
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Coming into a step family or blended family can be a challenge for every member of the new family. The main thing to remember is that you are not there to replace the old family and its members. You are simply coming together to form a new family that may have separate values or traditions than the previous families.
Having children opens a whole new area of your relationship. Make sure to work as a team to raise the child and doing house work. If one partner is bearing most of the responisbilites, it can make for a very stressful atmosphere which can be negative for the baby as well as the couple’s relationship.
Make sure you talk with your spouse about core values that you would like to bestow to your child. Talk through disagreements and find solutions to any oppositions who may have in regards to the issue.
Though it is very important for your children to see you forming new, healthy relationships with the ones around you, it is also important that they get to spend time with you as their parent. Sometimes step fathers or step mothers are so worried about bonding with their new step children that they sometimes neglect their own children by mistake. Remember to communicate with you children about their thought and feeling so that no one gets hurt in the process of forming the new family.
WHEN PARENTS HURT: Al Roker and Hoda Kotb interview Dr. Coleman on the topic of parents who have been cut off by their grown children.
Boomer Grandparenting on PBS: LIfe Part 2
Dr. Coleman was invited to speak to the faculty and students on Dual-Career Couples at Harvard in November 2010
NPR Talk of the Nation: How women’s increased economic and educational power are changing marriage.
Dr. Joshua Coleman is an internationally known expert in parenting, families, and relationships. He is Co-Chair of the Council on Contemporary Families and is a psychologist with a private practice in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Fighting in Front of the Children
Many parents worry about whether they’re hurting their kids by fighting in front of them. Join Dr. Coleman on View from the Bay as he discusses the Do’s and Don’ts!