Blended families

I am extremely grateful for my parents and the family I have. I also am grateful for the experiences I'm going to have with the family I am marrying in to. I get to marry into a family with divorce and step family members. I am learning new skills and seeing what I can do for others. I can see that I can help each family member and be helpful in family relationships. I can see the importance of easing into the family even as an in-law. I love watching and observing and learning. I can see where I need to improve in my relationships with my family of origin, with my in-laws, and with my new family unit.

"But mom!..."

If you've been in any kind of child development, family, or parenting class or even read a book related to any of this then you would be somewhat familiar with the different styles of parenting.  Autocratic (or authoritarian), permissive (or door mat), and active (or Authoritative).  But why would there be different styles of parenting?  Wouldn't it be ideal if everyone had active and basically democratic parents?  Authoritarian parenting has mostly come about from the monarchy governments.  People were told what to do so the only thing that made sense was to teach their children to do the same and to help them avoid trouble.  Democracy is a relatively new thing in the world but many people are picking up on that kind of parenting style.

Parents need to be good at what they do.  They need to help their children grow up in this world and teach them how to survive and thrive while being good people.  Parents need to teach courage, responsibility, respect, and cooperation.