If you're dating a single parent, meeting his/her kids can make or break the relationship. Mars & Venus author John Gray offers tips to help you through those first few meetings.
Your new significant other has kids. You’re about to meet them for the very first time, and that has got you worried.
You’ve been through this before, of course, with your own kids: no matter who you brought home for them to meet, they always found some reason not to like your date – who felt immediately the status granted: persona non grata.
Sadly, many divorced parents would rather forego this cruelty to others and do so by waiting until the children have grown up and left the house before reinitiating their dating. Not only does that take precious time and pleasure from their lives, it also robs the children of the opportunity to address their feelings of fear and loss that have arisen since the divorce. And of course, there is no guarantee that, as grown children, they can look beyond their own issues when considering your happiness. After all, a wound that hasn’t had a chance to heal continues to fester.
Knowing that your new partner is now facing these realities, here are four ways in which you can both prepare for this very important event:
1. Don’t try to sell them on you.
2. Don’t try to be their parent.
3. Get involved.
4. Allow things to move at their own pace.
Wednesday, September 23, 2020