A United Front

No two parents are alike. Everyone has their own parenting style and way of doing things when it comes to raising kids. You and your partner probably don’t agree on everything as parents, and that’s okay. Even though you don’t always have to agree, it’s important to have a conversation with your partner about how you both plan on approaching parenting as a blended family. Coming to a place of compromise and mutual understanding is essential to showing up as a united front for your kids! When you and your partner have a clear plan for parenting, your kids will have a greater sense of security and will know what to expect, helping to ease the transition of joining families. 

Families are complex and parenting can often be unpredictable, so it’s okay if you’re not always sure about how to best handle a situation. There’s no way to predict every challenge, so it’s important to have an ongoing conversation about how you and your partner want to approach parenting!

Healthy Blended Families: Series Intro

 

A blended family forms when two people make a life together with the children from their previous relationships. Blended families create an opportunity for deep and meaningful connections between all family members; however, it may take some time for everyone to adjust and reach this point. Joining two families is a big change, and it can feel scary and uncertain at first, especially for children who are not used to what their new family looks like. It’s normal for blended families to hit some bumps in the road during this big life transition!

Blended families face unique challenges, such as navigating co-parenting with ex-partners, learning how to parent together as a couple, developing new sibling relationships, and fostering a healthy parent-child relationship with your partner’s kids. Though bringing your families together may be difficult, this process can also be extremely rewarding and can lead to a warm and loving blended family!

By being proactive about tackling potential challenges, parents can help ease the transition of melding their families. HRI will be sharing tips throughout the rest of this week to help ease the transition of joining families and help you build a happy, healthy, and safe blended family!

Talk to Yourself in A Loving Way

Our relationship with ourself is just as important as our relationships with our loved ones! An important part of working on your relationship with yourself is being intentional about avoiding negative self-talk, especially when you make mistakes. Be gentle with yourself when you make mistakes; you are deserving of self-forgiveness. Treat yourself with grace, compassion, and kindness!

Take 5: Family Engagement Series with the YMCA

HRI is partnering with the Hayes-Taylor YMCA (2630 East Florida Street, Greensboro, NC 27401) to provide a series of 5 programs and events geared towards building strong,happy, and safe families.

Parents and guardians are invited to attend and learn how you can best support your child’s emotional and social development and create healthy and open lines of communication within your family.

Children ages 5-13 are invited to attend to learn about healthy relationships, how to respond to bullying, and how to use coping skills and self-care strategies to encourage healthy social, emotional, and academic development.

To register for this series, contact Ebony Burnett at ebony.burnett@ymcagreensboro.org.  

Families are encouraged to attend all 4 sessions on January 25, February 29, March 28, and April 25. All sessions will take place at the Hayes-Taylor YMCA (2630 East Florida Street, Greensboro, NC 27401) from 10:00-12:00 p.m.  In order to qualify to attend the Family Outing, participants must participate in 3 of the previous 4 sessions.

Refreshments and resources will be provided at each program.

Update: This series has been postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Stay tuned for more details. 

Overcome Setbacks to Achieve Your Goals

Setbacks are a normal part of working towards our goals. Know that you will likely experience some barriers and setbacks as you take steps towards accomplishing your New Year’s Resolutions. It’s okay to feel disappointed when these setbacks occur; however, don’t let them discourage you and keep you from moving forward. Instead, focus your energy into trying again and continuing to work towards your goals! Achieving your goals will take time, commitment, and perseverance. You are capable of doing the work to have your healthiest year yet!