My girlfriend and I are in convo about moving in together. We each have a child under the age of 10. We are planning to spend a lifetime together but not sure if we’ll get married. What kind of financial transparency should we be offering each other? What questions do we need to ask? How are you approaching money and finances in your blended family? submitted by /u/goldencombinator [visit reddit] [comments ..read more

I'm reaching out for some guidance on a difficult situation my husband and I are facing with his baby mama. My husband and I are going on 4 years married 5-6 years together and even till this day have been trying to conclude the 5 years court battle and work on a positive respectful relationship with BM. If anyone has any advice on how to navigate this situation, we would greatly appreciate it! Our ultimate goal is to create a healthy and supportive environment for the child, and we're willing to try any constructive approach to make that happen. All we want to work with one another and be re ..read more

My bf and I have been together for 2 years. We’ve both gotten to know our kids separately but we’ve discussed having them hang out. He seems to be open to the idea but also has this fear they won’t like each other and it will break us up so he always chickens out. If it were just me it would be obviously different but I do have my kid and he’s starting to feel left out when he hears we’ve hung out. How do I make the blending as easy as possible? For those that have run into the kids not liking each other what did you do to make it work? My bf has this crazy fear that’s completely understandab ..read more

Reading some posts here, but mostly on the stepparents sub, I wonder are there any step-parents who do see their step-kids as family…does the love eventually come? I know each child is different and it’s a two-way street, but some comments just seem to feel like people are just in relationships with parents and see the children as an unfortunate nuisance in an otherwise perfect relationship. I would never expect anyone to be a parent to my child, but some of these posts make me question what’s realistic. Update: thank you all for your lovely comments and stories. I know that the relationships ..read more

Seeking advice. I’d like someone to help me help my husband through this challenging aspect of step parenting with a difficult bio dad. I think it’s better for daughter to see her father seldomly rather than not at all. Bio father has a behavior of unstable patterns, emotional outbursts and sporadic actions. ( maybe I’m wrong. you can let me know your thoughts. looking for constructive feedback.) I will provide some details as they are necessary to the current status of things. Background: my daughter is 11. Her father and I were involved in high school. He’s 31 and i’m 30 now. We have not be ..read more

Hello, As the title said I (31F) am getting in touch with my ex-stepdad (60ish?). He was in my life for 11 years, from when I was 3 to 14. I only have amazing memories of him being a really great & supportive stay at home father. My Mom told me when I was 13 that he is an alcoholic and needs to go to treatment or they are breaking up. When I was 14 I came home one day and my Mom was crying and told me he had left. She didn’t say why or what happened, and he never reached out to me afterwards. This was coupled with other big family traumas in the span of a few weeks, and I honestly didn’t ..read more

I love my fiance so much, but lately I've been feeling more like a convenience for him to use for free child care. We're a blended family, my son is 7 and my step son is 3. I'll call step son Elliot. Elliot is a special boy, he requires a lot of care due to his past with bio mom, we have him every weekday and every other weekend. Hubby to be works nights, this is obviously something I knew going into this. The issues/feelings started when we moved in together. The day after moving was done without warning I had Elliot every single night. I do every bath time, bed time, dinner, pick up and the ..read more

Called CPS with concerns about my daughter’s time with her dad, got a “consultation.” Apparently the fact that my daughter’s dad is driving under influence of weed can’t be proven so they don’t care. I know for a fact my daughter knows what weed is and that she’s not lying. So no he wasn’t smoking a cigarette. They also don’t care that even though my daughter is at risk of having a seizure at any point in time, her dad leaves her in the pool unattended. Idc if its to go inside and grab towels, by the time he gets back she could be drowned in a pool bc of a medical emergency & it is too la ..read more

Blended family here…woah this is not for the weak ha question for the families out here rocking it because some things come up that really puzzle me… This is my first fathers day with my husband with our son we just had together. He has two other children..they are fantastic and stay with us every other week. In the past I have gotten them a card for their dad or a small present but this year I am super tight on money since having a baby…i brought to his daughters attention with a canvas i bought that maybe she could paint (she is a great painter) something for their dad…even offering some id ..read more

Anyone else have this experience growing up? No one ever hung out in our living room, siblings would eat in our bedrooms, etc. Parents too! they rarely were in our living room and only surfaced to cook dinner. Now that i grew up and live in my own apartment, i am NEVER in my bedroom. so sad to think how toxic of a life I had to live for so many years. if you're a parent/step parent and this sounds like your dynamic, do yourself a favor and knock on the kids door and see if they want to watch a movie. submitted by /u/No-Contribution-3448 [visit reddit] [comments ..read more