Blending kids from a previous relationship can be tough

Whether divorced, widowed, or just broke up, bringing kids into a new relationship can be difficult.

“The difficulty with blending families is there’s a certain amount of loyalty to the previous family,” said David Knapp, certified grief mentor.

“I had the unfortunate privilege of being widowed, and my wife, who was also widowed, we blended eight teenagers,” he said.

It was certainly difficult at first, Knapp said, but there were two things that worked for his family.

“Time and memories,” he said. “Bonding takes place by connection, doing things.”

In their first year together, Knapp said they took six family vacations intentionally to create new memories and bonding moments together.

After taking pictures, Knapp created a family album of the trips.

“I knew I had won when the kids would bring their friends home and pull out that album and show their friends, this is who we are,” he said.

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