Holiday Tips For Stepfamilies

Advice for Stepfamilies holidays: miss the Brady Bunch fantasy! When my co-author - Bill Merkel Ph.D. - and for the first time formed our stepfather, I had a lot of fantasies about how our family behaves like the Brady Bunch during the holiday season - a happy and harmonious, blood - and dance of the aircraft. Then, reality struck, and we could not even agree on how to decorate the Christmas tree! Ultimately, we created a son side with different colors, flashing lights and tinsel - and a she side with hand-painted eggs and chains of popcorn . Seven years later, I can tell you that you are trying to create a Brady Bunch holidays ensure failure. Instead, I suggest you follow these tips: 1. Examine and try to let go of their Brady Bunch fantasies. 2. Continue old traditions of holidays with their biological children, while creating new ones for stepfather. 3. If children do not buy their fantasy vacation, try to see the world from their point of view. 4. Øve themselves in the art of silence when their stepfather situation is compounded by the holiday season. You do not have to share all their negative feelings. 5. Do not compete with their children, others' parents of children with shower expensive gifts. 6. Stepmom, now stepkids their mother. Buy your gifts. Tell him that you appreciate their children. 7. Do not fight with ex-spouses about how long it will happen to children during the holidays. Not only do they affect children 8. Invite your ex-husband during a holiday party. Brace surprises. 9. Join a support group stepfather to share the feelings of many on the family that occur during the holiday season. Lisa Cohn is co-author of one family, Family, New Family: Stories and Advice for Stepfamilies , a gold 2004 National Parenting Publications Award winner. For more information, visit http://www.stepfamilyadvice.com http://www.stepfamilyadvice.com. E-mail to his cohnmerk@comcast.net cohnmerk@comcast.net