Intros

Lavender P

So I haven't been on the bump very much lately and I feel like there are tons of new people that I don't know. Can we do some quick intros?

CurlyQ284

Im not new but I'll start

SM to two girls, 11 and 12. I have DS who is 14 months. DH and i live outside DC, SDs live in Michigan and we get them for summer and holidays. We are trying to move to Michigan this spring (tried last year but the job DH was interviewing for fell through at the last minute).

Lavender P

I have a SS who is 10 and a DS who is 18 months with DH. We get SS EOWE and holidays, vacations etc.

SimpleJane

I have a DD 3, DS 6. SO 'J', we've lived together for 2+ years. Divorced, XH and I are on semi - good terms other than CS.

Oh, and on paper we have 50/50 custody but for the past year or two XH has been taking them about 2 days per week.

nurrieum

Why not...

SS who will be 5 soon, no current CO but we have SS 80% of the time. DS who is 18 months with DH. DH is currently a stay at home Dad but will start college classes next week!

coopsbaby

I have three kids, DS 21, DD 18 and DD 16. DS and oldest DD are off to college, Ds is 4 hours away and DD is only an hour away so she's home quite a bit. Dh and I just got married in March, (his first marriage, my second), and we're currently ttc. ExH is a complete ass who rarely makes any contact with the kids even though he lives 30 minutes away and is in our town frequently. He's also usually pretty far behind on CS and likes to pretend to be Father of the year on facebook. Oh, and we live in Wisconsin where it is completely too friggin cold right now.

cole2144

I have a SD who is 6, we share 50/50 custody with her mom, DH and I have 2 kids together DS3 and DD 5 months. DH and BM do not get along, everything is a battle with her.

joshsmandy

I'll play along... I'm not on here a lot but I do lurk.


I have a 10 year old SD that I love dearly, have known her since she was a few months old started dating her dad when she was about 5. I have an 7 year old son and a 6 year old daughter and my hubz and I are expecting a little girl any day. I see my SD every day almost at this point but we get her 1 day a week, EOWE and 4 weeks of vaca a year plus half her school breaks lol

whse13kittens

Hi SM to two boys, 16 and 12, and have a little one on the way in approx 18 weeks (also a boy!) We get the boys every weekend and about EO full week in the summer (on paper; in practice it's always changing, mostly because they're an hour away and have friends they want to see and DH rarely, if ever, says no.) Mostly a lurker but I post every once in awhile...

Mkherren12

Dh and I have been married for a year and a half. Have dd who is 7. Pretty much have her 100% of the time bc XH has recently chosen to stop getting her (long story). Ttc to add to our mix.

JessH1474

I have SS12, DD10 and DD5.  We have SS EOWE, holidays, summer, etc.  DH and I have been married for 10 years this year but together since SS was 3 months old.  Our relationship with BM is hit or miss depending on how she's feeling that day.  I do most of the communication b/c it helps avoid silly arguments.  We live in Florida.

alb2411

DH and I have almost been married a year at this point. SS5 currently lives with us, for the most part, but we are still waiting for a court order to be entered since having our custody hearing last year. This could change nothing or everything about our situation...who knows. I don't post often because of this, but I lurk and learn so much from the people on this board. I really hope to contribute more when everything is more settled in the courts and with BM. 

CurlieWhirlie

SO and I have been together a few years, not married yet. He's got two boys, 9 and 7, whom we get EOWE during the school year and EOW during the summer. SO and BM don't communicate very well, but she's a good mom and she and I get along fine. I have a 4.5 yo boy with my XH, he and I share custody 50/50 and live down the street from each other. We have a very good relationship, we spend a lot of time together as a big, weird, blended family. I wouldn't say XH and SO are "friends", but they bring each other beer and play cards. SO and I are expecting another boy together in March. We live in California.

workitmom84

I've been married for a year, we are expecting a little girl shortly and I have a SS who is 7. My H is military and we live ten hours from SS. We meet the mom halfway, typically on extended school breaks (alternating holidays) and over the summer for a few weeks. Everyone is fairly cordial, but things are a little stressed lately. The mom can be unreliable and hasn't made the best decisions (jobs, boyfriends, living situations), and there's always someone to blame besides herself.

ReeseFox

I rarely post here, but I lurk regularly so I guess I'll share. I have two DDs, almost 12 y/o and almost 2 y/o. I've been with my H (SF to my oldest) for a little over 8 years, and we've been married for almost 2. We got married 3 days before the baby was born. We have an amiable relationship with DD1's dad, though he can be unreliable and child support is sporadic.

Amanda88

I'm not new by any means, but it has been awhile since I have posted anything regarding our situation. I have a SS(5) and a DS(2). I have been in SS's life since he was 2.5, and we have him full time (always have). DH has primary custody and we have a very specific CO. BM hasn't seen or spoken to SS in almost 2 years. Before that her visitation was sporadic at best. DH and I have been friends for 8 years, been together 3, and married for a little over 2 years. 

Ilumine

DH and I have been married just under 8 years now.  

I have a 26yo SD, who is DH's adopted daughter with BM and an 18yo SS.  DH and I have our 5yo DD.  

When I met DH, he had joint legal custody of both children with BM, but had residential custody of SD and BM had SS.  The reasons are long and sad, but BM was harsher on SD than SS and was happy to let SD live with DH when the judge asked.  

When I met DH, I was not against dating and marrying someone with children.  Stepparenting is hard.  DH talked me out of it. And I used his relationship with SD as one of my determining factors.  

Unfortunately, he did a complete 180 with SS when we got residential custody.  His personal history of being an abandoned son, guilt from leaving SS with his not so together mother and lack of understanding of mental health not only exacerbated SS's issues, but put a huge strain on our marriage.  

It took my leaving DH to get him to do any strong parenting.  It took SS (at 17) attacking DH and then calling the police (and having CPS come out to visit DD) for DH to finally agree that SS is OUT of our house at 18.  

And for the newbies, SS has been to a number of professionals.  I would honestly LOVE to have had a diagnosis, any diagnosis (I still believe he has a mild form of Aspergers). That would give us something concrete to work with.  

redrae78

Haven't posted anything in awhile but here is our background. 

SM to SS who is 8 and BM to DD who will be 1 next month.  

I have been married to DH for 5 years and have been in SS's life since he was 1.5 years old.  DH and BM were never married and their relationship was toxic.  

We had SS every weekend and all holidays until the day we brought DD home from the hospital.  BM had her father drop SS off at our door with nothing but the clothes on his back and she vanished into thin air.  We haven't seen or heard from her since.  

SS has a lot of issues we are dealing with in therapy.  He is an angry and very aggressive little boy.  He was diagnosed with O.D.D. and A.D.H.D.  He has serious issues with female authority figures.  I am the main whipping post for his anger and hostility.  It has been a struggle and there are days I want to just throw in the towel but I love my husband and am trying to make the best of it.  

nattyncbride

I have a DS (almost4), 50/50 w/ his dad (since DS was 1.5) and a mostly good co-parenting relationship.

I am dating a man w/ DS(9), we have been together 2 years, not cohabitating.  He also has 50/50 and a mostly good co-parenting relationship w/ his exW.

I came to this board b/c I had issues w/ SO's relationship with exW.  I felt some of their interactions showed a lack of boundaries on both their parts.  Through this board, I found out that I was probably about 20% right, but 80% of the time, it was just my jealousy/insecurity, and it's stuff I just have to deal with in the best interest of his son.  That's still hard for me.

I lurk a lot b/c I don't have the experiences that most of the posts call for, but just reading the responses of the people I have come to respect helps me frame my outlook when I encounter issues.  I feel like I could not live w/o being on this board!

ambrvan

I am one of the younger members here. I am 24; DH is 29. I met DH when I was 19. We rushed into things really fast, and it has been difficult. I was more than a little naive in the beginning. But this board has helped me grow so much and really opened my eyes to reality and given me some great advice in some absolutely dire times.

I have a 7yo SD that we have full custody of now after years of fighting. She was abused by her mother, who now gets supervised visitation EOW. Her half siblings live with their father across the country now, as well, and SD has unfortunately not had any contact with them since the Spring.

DH and I also have a 4yo DS.

I am a full time working mom and a part time college student. My DH just graduated from school in May. And now we are preparing to buy a house this year (hopefully!).

docco11

I'll re-intro...

MH adopted his ex's D (D) when she was 7, they divorced when she was 9 when ExW left him for the man she had been cheating on him with their whole marriage.  Literally started the affair 2 days after they got back from their honeymoon, suggested he adopt her daughter, and then once it was final, left him 6 months later and married the new man.  MH inherited a large sum of money a few weeks after they started dating, so, we speculate she married him for his money... MH does not have a good relationship with ex or D.  D is currently in a mental institution getting treatment for severe bipolar disorder.  ExW and MH are in the middle of a ugly court battle as ExW thinks she should get more CS (even though D isn't living with her). We live long distance now.  D is 14. 

MH and I have a DD who is almost 4 months old. 

emme022

I've been posting here for a year or two but mostly lurk since I'm still new to the blended family thing, not sure if I ever intro'd though.

SO and I are not married yet but we do live together.  We have been together for 2 years and his daughter just recently turned 3.  I have been in her life since she was about 17 months old.  BM and SO have 50/50 custody and do a 2-2-3 schedule.

  BM and SO were married for less than a year, they could not get married when she got pregnant with LO because she was still in the process of getting divorced from someone else(she also had another child while she was still getting divorced from SO).  BM told SO she couldn't get pregnant and was allergic to latex(which may have actually been true) and he was 18 and stupid and believed her.  There were multiple red flags SO has now seen looking back but he now has a wonderful daughter so it's not all bad.  

The relationship with BM is up and down, she assumed she would get full custody of LO and be able to dictate what relationship SO was allowed to have with her, which she eventually found out was far from reality.  There have been some difficulties and she can sometimes show some serious crazy but it could definitely be worse.

twister22

DH and I have been married 2 years, together 3. I have a DS(5) and his BD is CO'd EOWE but only takes about 1/2 of his weekends. DH and I have DD(1) and a LO due in July. There aren't any huge BF issues, just little things like BD losing DS's stuff (i.e. sneakers, coat, etc.) or not paying his half of things.

[Deleted User]

The user and all related content has been deleted.

mana8503

I have 2 stepkids, SD7 and SS9.  They live 500 miles away with their mama, no CO.  We go down 5-6 times a year and they come up for a week in the summer (maybe 2 this year).  I'm 28, H is 29.  Been married for a year, together for 4 years.  Just found out last week I'm pregnant, so hopefully our BF gets bigger in September. 

Pinkpenguin+

I have been with my DH 10 years, married for 2. He has 2 adult daughters. We have 3 grand children. I have no children of my own, and we will not be having any. There is a fairly large age difference between my DH and I which made things interesting for us at first, but is no big deal now. We are currently estranged from my dh's oldest daughter, but we see my granddaughter (her daughter) every other weekend when she comes to visit her dad, because he lives very near us. We see his other daughter and her 2 kids as often as possible, but they live several states away, so it is not as often as we would like. It is kind of confusing. But works for the most part. I don't post much, but I have learned quite a bit from the members of this board.

sweetwalks

I'm late!

SS & DS both 4. We have SS eow, semi long distance so we can't do 50/50. We have DS all of the time.

I don't post a lot because there aren't really any major issues and BM stalks me.

riabiron

Hi All. I dont come around much but I am one of the originals from this board. I have one SD 9 and 3 DD 5, 3, 1. We get SD EOW and random times in between. things have been blessedly quiet on the BF front so there hasn't been much to report.

dannie2011

I've been on here for a few years, I don't post much because I'm the birth mom and came here mostly to get a better idea how my husband feels and sees things. 

I have 4 kids from my exh, he hasn't seen spoke or even tried to contact the kids in almost 7 yrs. He likes to play the victim so having no contact by his own choice makes him a better victim in his eyes. 

My husband and I are expecting our 2nd together Alexis is 2.5 and baby boy is due march 10th. We don't have any big issues the odd thing pops up and makes me shake my head but nothing worth worrying about. He's still learning to deal with young adults and teenagers. Their ages are 22,20,18,16. 

jess9802

I have a 14 year old SS, who started living with us full-time this school year. Before then he lived with his mother during the school year and spent summers and Christmas break with us. (Now the schedule has flipped.) DH and I have a 19 month old son together. For the most part we don't have any issues as a blended family - DH and his XW generally get along and SS is a fantastic kid. So I mostly lurk on this board.

carebear939

I have SD (6), DS (2) and another LO due in June.  DH and I have been married for 3 years.  DH and his ex don't communicate very well and we recently went through a nasty court battle when DH got a job out of state.  The judge ruled SD would stay with us and spend summers with her mother.  The move has been a adjustment for all of us, but we are starting to settle in.  

arilevine

I haven't been on in a long time but I'll do an intro- DH & I have been married just over 3 yrs. I have 3 SS's- 17, 10 & 7 who we share with his Xwife. They get along pretty good but she won't have anything to do with me which should be interesting at my oldest SS's high school graduation this June. DH & I have 1 DD - 15 month together. Nice meeting all of you!

emikat

I've been here for a few years now. I don't post much because I am afraid that BM will find me and it'll cause issues. Also, I don't post enough for people to remember my situation and I don't find a lot of support when I need it. I have a hard time with the BF situation and sometimes I think I say things that rub people the wrong way even though I'm thinking out loud and just trying to find my way. BF is hard and there's no one that I know that has the same or similar situation so it's hard for me to bond and find someone that really understands. I lurk a lot and try and learn. 

I have one SS who's almost 6 years old. I've been in his life since he was about 2 years old. DH and I started dating around that time. We've been married for a little over 2 years. We have a DS who is 6 months. When we first started living together we had SS 50/50. BM moved away and now she lives on the East Coast and we live on a rock in the Pacific. We see SS summers and as many other breaks as we can arrange and afford - holidays/spring break etc. BM is not friendly, refuses to work and uses both her mom and my DH's parents, who live in the same city to take SS, often for long weekends, so she can be with her man or friends. The situation is extremely stressful.

ambrvan

emikat said:

I've been here for a few years now. I don't post much because I am afraid that BM will find me and it'll cause issues. Also, I don't post enough for people to remember my situation and I don't find a lot of support when I need it. I have a hard time with the BF situation and sometimes I think I say things that rub people the wrong way even though I'm thinking out loud and just trying to find my way. BF is hard and there's no one that I know that has the same or similar situation so it's hard for me to bond and find someone that really understands. I lurk a lot and try and learn. 

I have one SS who's almost 6 years old. I've been in his life since he was about 2 years old. DH and I started dating around that time. We've been married for a little over 2 years. We have a DS who is 6 months. When we first started living together we had SS 50/50. BM moved away and now she lives on the East Coast and we live on a rock in the Pacific. We see SS summers and as many other breaks as we can arrange and afford - holidays/spring break etc. BM is not friendly, refuses to work and uses both her mom and my DH's parents, who live in the same city to take SS, often for long weekends, so she can be with her man or friends. The situation is extremely stressful.

That does sound like a rough situation.

mhwood

I've been around for a while, took a hiatus from the site, but I'm back.

I have 2 daughters. One from a previous relationship who is 17 and one from my current relationship who is almost 7 weeks.

My ex and I share joint legal custody of DD1, he has access one night per week, every other weekend and shared holidays - he has not had a regular access visit in 3.5 years. He currently doesn't pay any child support. DD1 has 2 adorable little siblings that live with them that she misses dearly.