I'm unlurking too.
I have been on the boards for a couple years. I recently lost my job and my account was set up under my work email, so I had to get a new account. So much for my bronze status!
I have been lurking here for a few months. I come from a blended family and am about to be part of one. My fiance and I are getting married this summer. He has 2 sons and I have a son and a daughter.
My ex husband is a d-bag. The short version of the story is that he cheated on me with at least 4 girls. I walked in on him and his secretary on his desk. That was real nice. I was stupid and stuck around and tried to make things work for 2 years after finding out about his affairs. He treated me like dirt, called me names, blew off dinner and the kids, stayed out all hours of the night and often spent weeks at a time "living with friends".
We separated legally for a year before I filed for divorce. I couldn't afford to file any sooner. I met my fiance while we were separated. We hit it off right away and started dating only a week into knowing eachother. The divorce took a little over 3 years to complete because my ex kept changing what he wanted out of the house and financials. My fiance and I moved in together while I was still going through the divorce. The ex tried to use that as a reason to get custody, but it didn't work.
He does see the kids on a regular basis, but plays games with child support and always tries to control what I do, who I see, where I go, etc.
We have fiance's kids on the weekends. My kids go to my ex's every other weekend so we are a blended family on the inbetween weekends. Its complicated and stressful. That's about it. I will probably be around some. The kids have started to have jealousy issues and that's what drove me to this board. I may be looking for advice on how to help them deal with our living situation.
Re: I'm unlurking too.
Oh, sorry! My daughter is going to be 10 next month and my son just turned 12. My step sons are 14 and 15.
My stepsons seem to be jealous of the time my kids are spending with my fiance. My kids live with us almost all the time, I can't blame his kids for being upset that other kids spend more time with their dad than they get to. The oldest has started stealing my kids toys and hiding them when he is over on the weekends.
Stealing their toys at 15??? Not acceptable, your Fi needs to put his foot down about that right now.
Does your Fi spend much one on one time with his kids?