Maryland couples who have children together know that divorce proceedings will be that much more difficult. As we’ve mentioned in past posts, there are usually always the issues of child support and child custody that need to be worked out. On top of that, there is always the issue of visitation which most divorcees will agree sometimes causes some unnecessary stresses along the way.
Let’s say that you’re finished establishing child custody and vistation and are thinking of moving forward. Perhaps you want to remarry. But what if your new spouse has children of their own? How do you mitigate problems in a blended family? How do you make sure that this new blended family doesn’t create problems between you and your ex-spouse?
To help answer these questions, we’ll look at a real-world example of a couple who had known each other before they had families with other people and how they make their blended family work.
Maureen and Tom had dated each other in the past; but when Maureen transferred schools in college, they eventually went their separate ways and married other people. After having kids with their spouses, both marriages ended in divorce. They were both left with a difficult decision: remarry or try to make it as a single parent.
For Maureen, she always wanted a large family and after reconnecting with Tom, she realized that a blended family could help her achieve that desire. But after getting married, the couple soon realized that their situation would be trickier than they thought. They had both established parenting styles with their own children, and now coming together, the two were realizing the challenge this would create in their family. They needed to work together to create a new style, making sure that the kids were on board every step of the way.
Blending a family takes patience, explained Maureen in a recent article. She says that things can get particularly difficult when an ex-spouse is thrown into the mix and visitation schedules may need to change. All in all, blended families aren’t impossible to manage; they just need a little extra work to be successful.
Source: The Huffington Post, “Blended Family Friday: Meet Maureen And Tom’s Family,” Brittany Wong, May 17, 2013