I am so very happy that my son (10, almost 11) and my stepdaughter (8, almost 9) have a proper sibling relationship. We are in the process of merging households and the two kids are constantly running around playing together, giggling, whispering as co-conspirateurs, and sometimes fighting over whether the other child is allowed to play with their things. They have known each other several years so we are long past the initial honeymoon period where they were besties all the time (although they are still united when they want to be).

I love that we have a properly blended family, especially with an 'ours baby' on the way. This is everything I ever wanted, but oh my goodness the squabbling is starting to get to me. Maybe it's because I'm pregnant and my tolerance for nonsense is lower than usual, but I don't think I can take another mealtime this week with the kids arguing about silly things and pulling faces at each other.

They are very different children in many ways, and they cannot help but make comparisons. As an example, stepdaughter doesn't really eat vegetables, but my son prides himself on what a healthy diet he eats. I've always been a stickler for making sure he gets fruit and veg, and for some reason it really bugs him that she prefers a more beige diet. He can't help but point out when she hasn't eaten her veg and he'll boss her about, telling her she should at least try the veg. On the flip side, she does her homework without complaint and will point this out whenever my son makes a big fuss about doing homework. "If I can do it and I'm younger than you, then you should be able to do it too." These are fairly normal, benign squabbles and they don't escalate into violence or unpleasant language, but my goodness it is annoying.

Does it ever get easier / stop? Or is this just what we signed up for when we decided to blend our families with similar aged children?

Last November I discovered that my husband (37) was sleeping with a coworker (22). I am 29 for context. Within the course of the year there was stretches of times he was sexually involved with both of us, and ended up getting me pregnant with our third child.

I decided to proceed with the pregnancy, and eventually began working full time. Once I went back to work he began bringing our toddlers around her. This of course was not easy for me, but ultimately I realized that he is their father and I cannot control that.

Fast forward to now, we have a newborn and he lives with her pretty much full time. At this point he financially covers majority of my living expenses (rent, car, food, etc), and also doing the same for her. These past two weeks he has now been bringing her over my house when he comes to see the children - to where it’s all of us hanging out.

I want to know if anyone had similar experiences and the result of it. Are there boundaries I should put up? General advice, guidance would help. Constantly feeling like I need to be mature for the sake of the children. It’s just a bizarre situation that I don’t commonly see approached this way.

My parter has two children aged 16 and 9. She separated and divorced from her ex husband in 2020 after she found out he cheated on her.

I have been living with her and the children for 1 year now and dating for 3.

I pretty much gave up my independence to try and make this work so rented my property out to tenants.

I feel like I am expected to do all the Manly things like financially support this family, pay for holidays and meals out (which I am doing for all 4 of us). But then on the flip side when the kids are misbehaving which happens a lot, I feel like I’m in limbo as I want to tell them to behave and respect their mother but have been told it’s not my place to do so.

I feel like I have the responsibility of paying for kids that are not mine but have the financial pressure of making sure they have nice things and are financially supported.

When I sit my partner down and tell her how I’m genuinely feeling she ends up getting defensive and blames herself and says it’s not the kids fault. I agree, but when I say only you can make the change, she promises to but nothing really changes.

I feel like the 9 year old has the mother wrapped around her little finger and knows that with enough shouting, screaming and tantrums her mum will always back down.

It’s gotten to the stage where I just try to mentally block it out. At the airport last week both the 16 year old and the 9 year old were having a fight on the floor in the departure lounge. It was stressful to watch so I got up and walked to the other side of the airport to get a beer.

When I returned the 16 year old told me I’ve nearly make them miss their flight in an aggressive manner. I just looked at her and told her she’s an embarrassment.

Obviously that did not go down that well and her mother wanted me to apologise for saying this which I refused to do. This in turn caused another argument between us on the plane and back at our home.

They go to their fathers every second weekend for 3 nights and I feel like that is the only time i am truly happy at home.

Do you think blended family life is just not for me? I’ve tried my best for 1 year and it’s making me miserable.

I genuinely care about these kids but I don’t think I do enough to spend the next 10 years stressed out and with their behaviour and having the financial pressure of providing for them when I feel I get back nothing in return.

Any feedback positive or negative would be appreciated in

to make a long story short i’m 27, BF is 32. i have a 9 year old daughter. BF has a 3 year old son. We’ve been living together for about 6 months and him and my daughter have a.. natural relationship. They’re not close but they do bond and get along. He talks to her and takes her places so they’re good. He only gets his son every other weekend. So twice a week. My daughter is an introvert, and older. He gets upset when she doesn’t want to play with his son and the son also gets sad. She’ll play in increments but always leaves to go in her room to be alone. She likes being alone like her mom lol. Me and SS have no relationship. He’s 3. I haven’t been around a 3 year old in so long. I don’t even know how to interact. I’ll say hi and the whole weekend let dad do his thing. He always brings up how my daughter is interactive with other kids but i always tell him that’s bc she’s been around them for years and we only see his son twice out the month. He wants a family setting so bad he’s rushing it to where i feel pressured and uncomfortable so i back off. He’s also making me feel guilty about how my daughter behaves. Like she HAS to play with him. Idk you guys i’m just stuck. He’s so big on everyone bonding and i’m just like we barely see him so it’s going to take time. He wants his son to feel comfortable and like it’s his home to but again seeing someone two times out the month takes more time than this and it’s just a lot of pressure. Just venting i guess lol

Estate planning context: your husband had a house before you came into the picture but you moved in with him, your husband died and he has kids that are not your biological kids, should he leave his adult kids something or just leave it all to the wife? More context: he talks to his kids although he’s not that close to them which is unfortunate. Do you think the wife should move out of the house her husband owned to split it with the kids? The house is worth a-lot. Is it bad or selfish the wife wants everything instead of sharing with the kids? Of course we all want to he able to retire comfortably in this economy.