Is your family struggling to "blend"? Trying to figure out how to introduce your new partner?
Relationships after divorce have to weather a lot of challenges. Living in a blended family day in day out is a lot harder and more stressful than most people realize.
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There are so many people involved, feelings to consider and balls to juggle. Many people find themselves lost. Figuring out how to introduce your new partner to the kids (or ex) can be scary. "Blending" is difficult even under the best of circumstances. And even if all that goes well, second marriages can find themselves riddled with lingering influence, chaos or conflict from the first marriage, which is why the divorce rate for second marriages is even higher than first marriages.
What topics can we work through relating to blended family life?
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Making a plan for introducing the kids (and ex) to your new partner
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How to support the children when family dynamics change post-divorce
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Defining roles and expectations for new partners
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Setting strong boundaries to keep your new relationship healthy
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Preventing dysfunction from the first marriage to infiltrate the current relationship
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Tools to control your emotions during times of high stress or post-divorce conflict
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Step-Parent Coaching and infertility support
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Discussing parenting plan concerns or changes in circumstances
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Working through Post-Divorce child/parent relationship issues
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Education on how to deal with Parental Alienation or Estrangement in a way that brings you back to your child, not further away
Why am I the right person to help you with this?
"I have been a stepmom going on a decade. I started this journey at 26, a young woman with no kids who fell in love with a man with 2 young kids - ages 5 and 7. Those boys are now teenagers. In the last 10 years, we have moved 2 times, had 3 miscarriages, 2 biological children and worked through many stages of blended family life. Our marriage has been tested by this lifestyle over and over again. We have had to work continuously to adapt and work as a team when things were difficult over the years.
I have helped raise my stepsons in a 50/50 custody environment from when they were in Pre-K all the way through to High School. We have had every 50/50 timesharing arrangement imaginable. I also have two young biological children, so I understand the challenges that come with bringing new children into the family and how hard it is to parent a wide spread of ages.
It is hard to talk about blended family life with people who don't understand the complexity and stress you go through daily. It is my passion to help families make life easier not only on the children, but also the adults. It would be my privilege to be your safe, non-judgmental thinking partner and guide you to the lighter side of blended family life."
- Tina Keyes, CDC®, TICC