We have the concept of the modern nuclear family constantly shrinking as the years go on. But this is one of those dangerous half-truths, in truth. Birth rates may be down but blended families are on the rise, so how to start Managing The Blended Family.
While it is definitely certain that birthrates in the developed world have been plummeting for decades now, there are other complex factors at play that can often keep family sizes not only as high as ever, but in some cases perhaps even higher, a fact noted by the people at Slater Gordon Lawyers.
Now don’t get us wrong here, obviously we are not talking about everybody. But it’s not that uncommon for big families to be mashed together these days, made up of half-siblings and step-siblings.
Managing The Blended Family:
These “Brady Bunch” style scenarios are starting to become a trend in society, a sort of counter culture if you will. And these scenarios are hardly ever easy ones to live out, especially considering that they are often headed by single mothers these days. At least on the TV show, there were two adults to keep things sane! Throw in economic poverty, and you have an incredibly complicated situation.
Managing “blended families like this can be a tricky endeavor, even in the best of cases. One of the most important things is to constantly work on forging a sense of common identity. If everybody in the family are looking out for and willing to sacrifice for each other, this makes the family unit that much stronger. As a matter of fact, a unified family has a far better chance of its members being successful in society, even in conditions of economic scarcity.
Tolerance And Patience:
Tolerance is called for often in these situations on a scale not commonly required of people living under one roof. The problem lies chiefly in the fact that many of the kids’ minds will have been formed in different environments, with different circumstances and different customs.
The good news is that this can be turned around. If you can manage the more difficult task of getting a blended family to live in relatively good harmony, these children will be that much more prepared for the rigors of the outside world when the time comes for them to leave the nest.
Communication Always The Key:
All of this, of course, stems from a base of proper communication among the various family members. It’s important not to assume anything under these circumstances, and instead of just getting angry at each other, to ask the appropriate questions and talk issues through fully. It’s much easier for people to be reasonable when analyzing a situation and thinking about it than just blaming others for problems that may not even be problems for them.
