Many families in America are blended; my family is one of them. I have both a step-mom and a step-dad.
I have found that there are more advantages than disadvantages. Being in a blended family means that there are more people to love me and for me to love. I have no problems with my step-parents. I was blessed with a good set. They love me as their own, and so I feel comfortable around them, which is very important to me because if I didn’t, how could I accept them into my life? Whenever I’m frustrated, I can get more than one opinion that I trust on the issue.
I love all of them so much that the biggest disadvantage is finding time to see all of them with my school, work and other activities.
When you live in a blended family, you have to treat everyone equally, in my opinion, and working everyone in gets tough. Holidays are the toughest. When I was little, I always wanted my family to be together. I wanted my dad and my mom there, together, when I opened my presents or went on an Easter Egg hunt. I soon found the advantage to separate holidays though, like double the presents, two Easter baskets and two neighborhoods for trick-or-treating.
It was hard to cope when one of my parents moved from my hometown to another city. It’s not always easy to just drop everything for a weekend and go to another city, especially when I couldn’t drive or had other plans. But, I’ve made so many new friends because of it, and so now the distance feels like a big advantage.
Basically, being a part of a blended family comes with advantages and disadvantages. You just need to look at the bright side and work to overcome the little obstacles, like everything in life.
This article was one in a series about step-families, Click here to read one mom’s story. Click here to read one dad’s story. Click here for suggested responses to, “You’re not my parent.” Click here for expert advice.
