Are You Being A Good Father? What About Blended Households?

In its most basic sense, a blended family is one where the parents have children from previous relationships but all the members come together as one unit. However, as blended families become increasingly common, the definition of a blended family is changing. Understanding the basics of a blended family can be essential for ensuring your family can embrace its strengths to work through its differences.

What Is a Blended Family?
The simple definition of a blended family, also called a step family, reconstituted family, or a complex family, is a family unit where one or both parents have children from a previous relationship, but they have combined to form a new family. The parents may or may not then have children with each other. Traditionally, the parents of a blended family would be married, often after a divorce or death of a previous spouse, but modern blended families may not have married parents; cohabitant parents can both serve as role models for the children without a marriage ceremony.