The WM Parenting Connection

By Stacey Celaya - Family Health Expert

I typically write about family related health issues which is a pretty broad topic. But today I am writing with a request for advice from our readers.

As you may or may not know our family is a blended family. I have three teenagers from my first marriage and then my husband and I have our five year old together. My oldest went to live with her Dad when she was 16 (she is now 18 years old and in her first year of college) because she was having trouble getting along with my husband.

Now my second oldest is also struggling. Although she has no intention of going anywhere and I am glad about that it is still a hard situation.

My husband is a career Marine and he is very rigid when it comes to responsibility and respect. He has expectations and he expects those expectations to be met. He places a high priority on taking initiative and doing a job the right way.

As a teenager my daughter is now 17 and in that phase where she doesn't want to be told what to do by anyone. I remember being there myself when I was sure I knew everything and that when I grew up I would never be like my mother cause I was smarter.

When I was a kid it didn't matter if my Mom or Dad made me mad - where was I going to go? They were my parents. There was no "well, he's my step-dad or she's my step-mom so they don't matter" mentality.

The person that suffers the most from the tension between the two of them is me. I am on my kid's side and I am on my husband's side and I am on my side. To them it may just be an argument or a fight but to me it makes me second guess every decision I have ever made. I realize that I am being a little dramatic here but when all I have ever wanted was a happy, peaceful family it is bothersome to me that my family is just as dysfunctional as any other.

I know my family loves each other and I know that no matter the frustration and irritation they display to one another at the end of the day we are a family and a family that sticks together.

So my question is - How has your family dealt with the added complications of a blended family? Is it something that everyone goes through and eventually we will all look back and laugh at the teenage years that we survived? Or am I just doomed to feel caught between all the people that I love for the rest of my natural life?

A Question For Our Readers