The Blended Family

Create a Loving and Safe Environment for Your Blended Family Blended families face unique challenges, and sadly, good intentions aren’t always enough. With so many complex relationships involved, all the normal rules for family life change, even how you apply something as simple as the five love languages. That’s why Gary Chapman, the bestselling author of The 5 Love Languages® andnational expert on stepfamilies, Ron Deal, join together in this book to teach you how the five love languages can help your blended family. They’ll teach you: About the unique dynamics of stepfamilies How to overcome fear and trust issues in marriage How to develop healthy parenting and step-parenting practices How the love languages should—and should not—be applied You’re going to face many challenges, but with the right strategies and smart work, your family can be stronger and healthier together.

"From weeknight dinners and homework sessions with their son to Christmas card photos and vacations, Nikki DeBartolo and Benjamin Heldfond have created a tight-knit, enviable family. They work and play well together, from the smallest daily tasks to the biggest life eventsƒƒ‚ƒƒ‚‚‚ƒƒ‚‚ƒ‚‚"ƒƒ‚ƒƒ‚‚‚ƒƒ‚‚ƒ‚‚€ƒƒ‚ƒƒ‚‚‚ƒƒ‚‚ƒ‚‚"and it only took a divorce to get them there. Though their marriage has been over for nearly a decade, they still share a happy life with each other and their son Asher, along with their new amazing spouses and children. Ben and Nikki had hoped their wedding would start their happily ever afterƒƒ‚ƒƒ‚‚‚ƒƒ‚‚ƒ‚‚"ƒƒ‚ƒƒ‚‚‚ƒƒ‚‚ƒ‚‚€ƒƒ‚ƒƒ‚‚‚ƒƒ‚‚ƒ‚‚"but seven years, one child, and countless financial and familial entanglements later, their I do-s had turned into We can't-s. Armed with their fierce love for their son and a desire to give him the best, they realized they needed to find an alternative to the seemingly inevitable toxic divorce that loomed over their lives.

Blended Family Advice is step-by-step guide to help blended and stepfamilies navigate the rough areas in their marriage and family. The book focuses on three main areas: marriage, kids, and the outside world. Learn how to communicate with your ex-spouse successfully, create a sense of unity in your newly blended family, how to treat stepparents and stepsiblings, and how to create house rules and expectations in your new blended household. Shirley Cress Dudley uses her skills as a licensed professional counselor, and as a stepmom to help blended and step families learn how to become strong and successful. Blended Family Advice contains the keys to a successful blended family along with several bonus reports: a financial planner, creating successful blended family holidays, house hunting for the blended family, and a guide for grandparents. Blended families and stepfamilies will find this book to be a comprehensive resource and one that every stepfamily and blended family will need in their home. Visit The Blended and Step Family Resource Center http://www.TheBlendedandStepFamilyResourceCenter.com and http://www.BlendedFamilyAdvice.com for more information. Shirley Cress Dudley, MA LPC [email protected]

Based on personal experience and expert insight, this book can help your new family learn to work and play together and to love and respect each other.

According to experts, being involved in a prior marriage decreases the success rate of subsequent marriages. The aim of this book is to reduce the failure rate of remarriages and to promote the success of blended families. Successful Blended Families addresses the common challenges of blended family life and provides practical tools for dealing with them effectively. Attention is given to children in these families, step-parenting, preparation for remarriage as well as the building blocks for a successful blended family. If you are in a blended family or planning to establish such a family, this book is for you. If you are a professional who works with blended families or you simply want to gain more insight and understanding of blended family life, this book is worth reading.

Spark conversation and connection with 400 thoughtful questions for blended families Asking thought-provoking questions can help blended families bond and get to know each other better. No matter what kind of blended arrangement you have, this book will inspire you and your family to share thoughts and experiences with each other through fun, lighthearted questions and deeper, more reflective prompts. What sets this blended family book apart: A range of topics—Discover an engaging mix of questions that covers everything from your favorite things and fondest memories to your personal values and dreams for the future. Questions for everyone—Explore open-ended prompts that are relevant to and appropriate for the entire family, including younger kids and older teens. A flexible format—Enjoy this book however you like, whether you want to answer one question a day or make a fun game out of answering 10 or 15 during a car ride. Grow closer as a blended family—one question and response at a time.

Children growing up in blended families, with stepparents and stepbrothers and stepsisters, face many of the same challenges as children growing up in more traditional families, along with some that are unique to their situation. How do they work out their relationships with the non-biological members of the family? How do they deal with the children's other family members who don't live with them? The families in this book are challenged by these questions every day. They see difficulties and benefits in their experiences and their stories share many of the things they have learned in their lives.