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Many stepdating couples experience the balancing act of developing and nurturing an adult relationship while continuing to be a responsible and intentional parents. It's as complicated as the spinning plates because each person in the dating relationship, both kids and adults, has needs and wants that have to be balanced with everyone else's'. Little kids rarely understand dating and tweens and teens often resist or reject being part of their parent's love life. And the dating couple has to figure out when to expose their kids to their physical affection and how to carve out time for intimacy while juggling multiple parental responsibilities. The intimate life of a dating couple is extremely important and with some forethought and forward planning it is possible to enjoy each other and maintain parental responsibilities and the emotional well being of the kids. Kids have to be considered in the stepdating relationship and sometimes their needs seem in conflict with the spontaneity that makes romance and intimacy so fun and exciting. However, it can be done and just like the plate spinner, it takes practice, planning and great balancing skills.

For many kids, money means the magic card that comes out of mom's wallet or cash obediently emerging from an ATM. Parents lead the way in teaching kids respect for money and the value of budgeting, saving, and buying just what you can afford. It's never too early to teach kids that money does not grow on trees and there has to be money in the bank before those magic cards and ATMs can be used. This Season may be the perfect opportunity to teach kids the object lessons around money.

The Holiday Season, traditionally a time for splurging and generous gift giving, is likely to be difficult for many families this year as they struggle with the new economic realities of job loss , mortgage meltdown and overall financial uncertainty. Parents and kids, inundated with enticing television ads, promotions and glittering in-store displays, have to face the reality of a scaled-back Holiday Season, even though it can be hard to resist impulse buying when it's supposed to be the season for giving and receiving.

The Holiday season is nearly here and for many it's a mixed blessing--Holiday Stress mixed with Holiday Cheer. Who isn't captivated by sparkling store displays, eager children, and all the tempting cookies and candies everywhere? And a major high spot is organizing relaxed quality time with family and friends at Holiday dinners and gatherings. There are high hopes and multiple pressures to guarantee happy celebrations.

Today, among the glut of single parenting self-help books, it's delightful to discover one that not only presents exactly what the title offers, but exceeds all expectations with new insights, realistic information and success strategies to guide readers through the labyrinth of post-divorce parenthood that helps parents and children not merely survive, but thrive. The book is The 7 Pitfalls of Single Parenting: What to Avoid to Help Your Children Thrive After Divorce by Carolyn Ellis. Best-selling author, Carolyn Ellis, has combined her academic background, broad based professional knowledge and personal understanding with divorce and single parenthood to write a definitive book every single-parent should have as a practical parenting road map. The book is based on extensive research and examination of real life experiences from clients, single parents, seminar students and her own invaluable understanding of raising three young children after divorce.

As mentioned in the previous article, blended families, along with everyone else, will eventually feel the negative impact of the Wall Street meltdown. Many blended families are experiencing the personal pain of financial strain, helplessness and generalized stress as the repercussions ramifications ripple through our economy. Again, we’re not in a position to offer a bailout plan for our blended families, but here we offer some additional ideas to help you take action and feel more in control of your destiny as this economic fiasco plays itself out.

Blended families, along with every other segment of the country, will likely experience the negative impact of the meltdown on Wall Street. No one is immune to the fallout that has caused the federal government to step in with a multi-billion-dollar bailout to stabilize financial markets and prevent a complete collapse. While banks and other monetary institutions will avoid complete ruin with the bailout plan, the same is not true for many ordinary families experiencing the personal anguish of financial strain and powerlessness, that anxious feeling of loss of control over a situation you did not create and you are powerless to correct. The result of the crisis for many families is generalized stress as people are threatened with foreclosure, ballooning mortgages, job loss, rising gasoline prices, home heating oil, food costs, as well as monthly bills and credit card debt. Blended families face increased pressure as they finance dual households and child support.

On a recent inter-state flight, Emily Bouchard, founder of Blended-Families.com, had the pleasure of sitting next to a charming 12-year-old girl who was flying alone to spend a long weekend with her father. After she excitedly told Emily all the fun things she was going to do with her father, she explained that she had been making this plane trip every month since her parents divorced. It turns out this pint-sized solo flyer is like millions of other children whom the airlines label, Unaccompanied Minors (UMs). These are youngsters who fly without an adult, both within the United states and overseas, usually to stay with non-custodial parents or to spend vacation time with grandparents or other relatives.

It’s a well-documented fact that kids who eat dinner consistently with their families feel more connected, do better in school and are less likely to be involved in drugs, alcohol, and other dangerous behaviors. But in today’s fast-paced, taxing, busy world, there seems to be little time for gathering and connecting with family, and in blended families with transitioning kids and jam-packed schedules, it’s even more difficult. We have the illusion of connectedness with our ever present cell phones, text messaging and email, but there’s no substitute for face to face, electronic-free communication with family members all together. One simple solution is to schedule regular family dinners. There are many good reasons to make the family dinner part of your routine as often as possible.

Sheena Berg, Blended Family coach, writes about Alec Baldwin's well documented divorce from Academy Award winning actress, Kim Basinger and subsequent contentious and acidic custody battle for their daughter, Ireland. Baldwin's story is chronicled in his new book, A Promise to Ourselves: A Journey through Fatherhood and Divorce.

Blended-Families.com presents some guidelines for returning graduates and their parents to help spell out expectations and develop a plan for the graduate to transition into independent adult living.

Adult stepfamilies can be satisfying and heartwarming when parents, adult children and grandchildren work together as a healthy and happy family unit. This video is about the ground-breaking book, Step Wars by Grace Gabe, M.D. and Jean Lipman-Blumen, Ph.D. which gives helpful strategies parents and adult stepchildren need to deal with common anger issues.

On September 16, 2008, in honor of the eleventh annual Stepfamily Day, three leading experts in step and blended family issues will answer the toughest questions facing stepparents.

Men and women are different. However, they have unique capabilities to make a marriage work. Learn more about the secrets of happily married men based on Dr. Scott Haltzman's book of the same title.

Maintaining a Healthy Relationship with your child. Sounds simple right, but not always easy to do. Michelle emphasizes many of the basics and reminds us of the critical role we play in our children’s lives, the development of who they are and will become, and their ultimate success not only in school but in life. And she comes at this from the unique vantage point of an experienced school counselor who has observed and worked with children in one of their primary settings – school. Michelle begins by reaffirming for us that as parents, we are the most powerful influence in our child’s life. This is a responsibility that cannot be taken lightly and it’s important that we recognize that it does take a considerable amount of time and energy – as it should. For many of us in today’s world, with the hectic pace, multiple jobs, commuting, endless activities and commitments, just making time is a big responsibility but it is absolutely critical.

Blended-family and divorced dads can find support for their unique issues, and can enjoy the holiday designed to honor them, as well as traditional-family dads.

Author Michelle Farias gives some wonderful ideas on how to structure your children's summer break from school, so that the family gets stronger, and the coming school year is more successful.