Blended Families

When creating a blended family there are a few things to keep in mind. It takes at least two years to normalcy, the birth parent should do all of the heavy disciplining for their children, and the parents should council together often. It takes two years to normalcy because the house is adjusting to the knew surroundings and people.

The birth parent of the children should do all of the heavy disciplining for at least the first two years. The new parent has to take the time to earn the child's respect and disciplining them heavily will only make them want to fight back more. Fighting will create tension and pulls on the family unit.

The parents should council together often to see how the family dynamics can improve. They should also council about how each other is doing in the newly created family. You should always make sure that you are both are on the same page. By doing these things the transition should be much easier.

Parenting: Discipline vs. Punishment

Discipline and punishment are different. Punishment is creating your own consequence or penalty. While discipline is simply correcting the behavior. Punishment can be equivalent to spanking or sending a child to their room. Whereas discipline is equivalent to having a discussion about correcting the behavior as well as teaching.
How would you handle these children?

You might resort to this:

When you should be acting something like this:

Love is an amazing power for children but should never be used against them.

Fathers

There are five things that I have thought of that a new father should know. They are:

You're not a back-up parent, you're a father.

Go to every doctors appointment

Accept help

Be present

Be the protector

I consider these to be very important in understanding when becoming a father. First of all, you are not a back-up parent, you are a father. You are right there beside the mother. She may have a stronger instinct but you have instincts too. You may think of things that haven't come to her mind to try. You are equal partners.

Go to every doctors appointment. You never know what could happen to the baby that you wife is growing. What if you weren't there and she found out about a complication with the baby? She would feel her world crashing in around her and you wouldn't even be there to comfort her. 

You should swallow your pride and don't be afraid to accept help. You might need help taking care of the baby and the house while you have to work everyday and provide for the family. It's okay to take sometime for yourself and your wife while someone watches the baby for an hour or two.

Be as present with your baby as possible. Your baby will not remember you there but will know that you always were. Being present for the baby is so very important. There is no point in being a father if you come home just to get on the laptop or play video games. Being mentally there with your child and watching every step is highly rewarding and essential.

Be the protector. Be there for your wife. If she's tired, take care of her. You might even need to ask guests to leave and that's okay. Make sure she knows you are there for her because she won't feel as fantastic about herself as she used to. Make her feel as though there is an invisible shield you create between the family and the world.