March 03, 2011

The Brady Bunch ...we are not!


I believe the Brady Bunch was the first television show that focused on life  as a blended family.  Well, let me be the first one to say ….the Brady bunch we are not!  We don’t have an Alice who cleans and solves the families’ problems or happy ending lets hug it out moments.  We are your typical blended family full of ups and downs…arguments and compromise and trying to just all get along. 

Lucky for me the Mister knew my children way before I even knew the Mister even existed, so there weren’t any awkward “get to know the kids” moments when we started to date but once we merged the families together that’s when it started to get a bit challenging. 

I have 3 children from a previous marriage and their ages are 19, 17, and 14 and his children are 10 and 12 …all in all we have 2 girls and 3 boys. So as you can see we are smack dab in teenage hell!!  The Mister and I have dealt with everything from the typical “you’re not MY mom/dad” attitude, to finger pointing between the children to his kids against my kids. It can be pretty hectic at times but once the Mister and I learned through counseling that we had to be a team and that the children had to see that they couldn’t manipulate us to take sides than things took a turn towards ……normal?? 

Every day is a learning process, especially with the new title “wife and stepmom”. Whenever I have to raise my voice I have this vision of the wicked step mother from Cinderella in the back of my head and I stand there quietly outside the bedroom door waiting to hear them say “what a witch”, but that never happens. 
All in all I have to admit I do enjoy being part of a blended family……can it be difficult? You bet….but it teaches me patience which is a stretch for me, it makes me that much more organized although from what I’ve learned is nothing ever goes the way you probably have planned because their might be unexpected club meetings, youth groups, boy scouts , school projects due the next day, emergency trips to Walmart,Micheals or Target.

 I can tell you one thing …… my favorite part of being part of a big family is when we are all gathered around the dinner table giving thanks and then enjoying each others company and sharing our day…..it may be over grilled cheese and tomato soup or something gourmet that then Mister put together but either way it’s those 45 minutes that are being treasured!