This week in class we talked about divorce and blended
families. Some of the predictors for divorce are because people haven’t seen a
healthy marriage and they recreate patterns they saw, and cohabitation. Dating
is one big protector for successful marriages. The divorce rate is going up
every year. After people get remarried, especially when there are children
involved, there are many struggles. 70% of people, two years after getting
remarried feel like it was a mistake. After people are divorced, 70% of men are
remarried within two years. Women are less likely to marry as quickly after a
divorce. One study showed that when children are 12 at the time of divorce the
father lives an average of 400 miles away. It also showed that by that age
children don’t want to be around their father as much.
Blended families can be hard work. After a
remarriage it takes around two years for the family to get used to the changes.
One reason for this is because after two years of different traditions within a
family they are starting to get used to them.
I have seen this in my life. My parents are divorced and both parents are remarried. I lived with my mom and stepdad at home. I love my stepdad but the first few years of them being married were difficult to get used to. Once we learned how to work together and become one family, things got much better. Of course there are still problems occasionally, but that is so with any family blended or not.
This is me with my little brother, mom, and stepdad!
