Enjoying Your Blended Family

It can be hard for stepdads to know how to bond with their stepkids.    There can be a lot of questions racing through a stepdad's head. Do they want to have anything to do with me? How do I relate to them? Am I overstepping my bounds?   The great thing is that there are a lot of ways stepdads can bond with their stepkids, and it's a really special role to play in their lives. We dive into a lot o...

Take St. Patrick's Day and use it to create some awesome memories with your family.   We'll show you how to use the 5 love languages to create a fun time together, you'll learn a little more about each other, and you will laugh a lot.   Turn this holiday into a "pot of gold" for your family! The true treasure is spending quality time together doing something new and fun. EPISODE RESOURCES:   HOW T...

Is your preteen/teen giving you a lot more attitude? Isolating more? Having a lack of motivation?   Being in a stepfamily can have many different effects on our preteens and teens. A lot of the issues with your preteen/teen run a lot deeper than what you're seeing on the surface.   The great news is there are many things we can do as parents that can help our preteen/teen through these identity se...

This may not be what you initially thought it was when you saw the title. We're not that crazy!!!   It's all about road trips during the day, a one day there and back. This is a perfect idea to connect with your stepkids. These trips can really help your family connect more with each other.   In this episode, we share what this can look like, along with some tips to make this something your family...

Do you have someone in your family that struggles with ADD/ADHD?   This can really add some challenges to a stepfamily's dynamics, especially for those that don't have ADD/ADHD. This can strain relationships, causing tension and resentment if we're not careful.    In this episode, we share the struggles we had with this in our own family along with a few ways to help everyone get along and love ea...

There are many different ways that camping can help your stepfamily bond together.    Have you ever heard of Primitive Camping?   In this episode, we share our experience along with some do's and don'ts. We definitely found out the hard way, but it did wonders for our marriage and our health. This could be something your family can have a lot of fun with.   EPISODE RESOURCES:   HOW TO ENJOY YOUR B...

It can be hard when we let our kids go to their other parents' house.   Then there's the fear of others judging the way you're parenting, or we have the fear of losing our kids to our ex-spouse.    There are so many fears we can face in a stepfamily where we feel we are losing control. In this episode, we break down the fears and give real solutions so you have more control of your family and you...

Do you know what 'forest bathing' is? By the end of this episode you will, along with a fun easy way to travel without even leaving your house. 'Take Me With You' has a new travel box that takes you to Japan. This box is loaded with a new country and a new amazing culture for you to explore. You'll see the beauty, work on making some origami, and try your hand at the art of Japanese printmaking.  ...

Why do I feel like my family is broken? My family didn't turn out the way I thought it was going to.   Ever had any of those types of thoughts?   I feel like I can't make any decisions for my family because there are so many other factors that get in the way. These thoughts have a way of creeping in and driving down deep within you.   All these thoughts lead to resentment, and most of the time we...

Are you ready for an adventure? One that will bring your family closer and you'll have a lot of laughs in the process?   That's what this great idea is all about. Join us as we show you what this looks like and how easy you can make this happen.   You will see more love, laughter, and connections in your family.   Here is the free Scavenger Hunt guide that makes this even easier for you, grab your...

This is one of the greatest things you can do for your marriage and for your family, but it can also be one of the hardest things to make happen being in a stepfamily.   We share the benefits and the struggles of making date nights in your marriage happen in a blended family, along with some great ways you can make it a reality. EPISODE RESOURCES:   HOW TO ENJOY YOUR BLENDED FAMILY : 5 Dates To Di...

Make this Valentine's Day extremely special for your family.   We share 14 Simple Fun Family Valentine Ideas. Make this holiday one that will bring your family closer together. These are easy to do. Pick one, two, three, or more of these ideas and run with them. Your family will love it.   Here are the 14 ideas for reference, but we go into full detail of what each one of these are in this episode...

Have you ever felt let down on Valentine's Day or any other holiday?   You're definitely not the only one. Sometimes we can have these expectations and they never get met. There are ways that we can put into motion that can help break this cycle and you can find more happiness during the holidays, and even long after.   See how you can take your expectations and make them become real expectations...

You've heard of Ice Breaker games that you play with people you don't really know in order to have some laughs and get to know others a little better, right?   Sometimes our stepfamily can feel like we're a bunch of strangers at times, and we can always use ways to break that ice. We have 5 fun Ice Breaker games that will get all of your kids out of the room and playing, and they are geared for a...

OMG, Part 1 was so good, we had to ask a few more questions and create this Part 2.   You will gain some valuable insight on what a stepdaughter was thinking and struggling with from being raised in 2 different homes. It's easy to see things from an adult's (parent's) perspective, but how are our kids really seeing things?   Then at the end, we share a powerful story from a BioDad. This one will l...

Did you know there was such a thing as 'Tater Tot Day'?   When we have fun together, we connect better, and we see less family struggles. Here are some ideas where you can use these random holidays to create all kinds of fun and laughing moments with your family.   We share what this can look like from an easy quick thing all the way to a planned-out themed event. When you create these kinds of me...

What if you could time travel to when your stepkid is a young adult, ask them a few questions on what they were thinking back then, and then go back to the present time?    Do you think you might discover some new ways to approach situations in a way they might receive it better?   We brought our daughter in on this episode and did just that, asked her some questions about what she was going throu...

It's not just about the touchdown!!!   The truth is, you don't even have to like football to enjoy this game. Do you and your spouse struggle with getting intimate together?    This is a fun and very easy way to spice up a date night. You will walk away laughing and truly enjoying spending time with each other, and you might even get a little lucky after the fun.   What a great idea to use right b...

We hear all the time "my stepkid hates me" or "my husband doesn't know how to connect with my kids."   There was a time when we said the same thing, and didn't know how to connect with each other. There were a lot more things we said, too (lol)! We felt more like firefighters, running around trying to put out problem after problem.   It's so much better when we can become proactive instead of reac...

How much time does your family spend outside?   There's all kinds of studies that show the benefits to our health from being outdoors, yet most of us stay indoors almost all day.   If our mental and physical health can benefit from being outside, then let's challenge our blended family to hang outside together more often. We give a breakdown to what this can look like for your family and the great...

Sometimes it feels like we just have to vent to somebody about the drama that goes on in our blended family.   Maybe your stepkid's relationship with you isn't going the way you want, or you and your spouse are seeing things differently about how to parent the kids. There can be so many things that you could vent about.   The question we started asking is who are we venting too? Does it cause that...

You don't even have to like reading to use this idea, and you'll have a great time building your family relationships in the process.   This is something our family stumbled onto. It has allowed a stepmom and stepdaughter's relationship to grow even more and have a lot of fun together. Then we've taken this idea and morphed it into another way to connect with others in our family.   We love sharin...

You go through all kinds of blending issues in your immediate family, but how long does it take for your extended family to accept everyone?   We had a few "Ah-Ha" moments after our Christmas break from spending time with our extended family (grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc.). It's crazy that we've been a blended family for over 15 years and still see some divisions.   The real question came from...

A dream come true is a dream not forgotten.   Ryleigh Tandy (our daughter) joins Scarlett to share how powerful and fun dream boards can be.   Goal setting gives you the ability to see where you want to be and gives you the vision to reach out and make it happen. Dream boards are a fun and creative way to not just say it, but to see it.   This can be a fun thing to do with your kids. As you dream...

"If I could turn back time!" (a little Cher moment, lol)   Unfortunately we can't, and probably wouldn't be good if we could. What we can do is try to stay more connected with our family in this new year, and we can do that through planning.   As a blended family, we can have a lot of people we need to keep in the "know". If we don't, it leaves room for miscommunication, which in return can cause...