Blended Family Blues and Boons

Is yours a blended family? Whose isn't? Does anyone really have a traditional family anymore?

Back in the 20^th century, many of us didn't personally know anyone who had been divorced. "Nice people" just seemed to stay together, or so our grandparents said. How wrong they were! Clearly, we didn't really know what happened inside other people's homes, or even ours!

We're "nice people." Really, we are. (OK, so you'll have to take my word on that.)

But our family is blended, re-blended, and blended again. We're a blended family, through and through, at every level. In fact, we are a multi-generational blend of blendedness.

Quiz yourself! How can you tell if you have a blended family?

If you need a "Cast of Characters" program to keep the names of all your relatives straight, then you probably have a blended family.

If you celebrate every holiday more than twice each year, then you probably have a blended family.

If you feel the need to count everyone's present piles at Christmas, then you probably have a blended family.

If the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, and St. Nick come to visit you twice each year, then you probably have a blended family.

If you have two sets of clothes, in two separate closets, in two separate bedrooms, in two different homes, then you probably have a blended family.

If you have to pay for all of your Mother's Day or Father's Day cards with a credit card, then you probably have a blended family.

If you sit down to Thanksgiving dinner more than twice every November, then you probably have a blended family.

If your family portrait photographs require a panoramic viewfinder, then you probably have a blended family.

If you aren't sure how many brothers and sisters you actually have, then you probably have a blended family.

If you pre-pay two separate sets of tickets for your kid's school play or choral concert, then you probably have a blended family.

Is your family tree more like a complex spreadsheet? If it is, then you probably have a blended family.

If you hesitate when you introduce your family members ("This is my _______________"), then you probably have a blended family.

If your "Last Will and Testament" contains more than three caveats, then you probably have a blended family.

If your family Christmas card address list contains 100 names or more, then you probably have a blended family.

If you have more people in your corner than most people ever know in a lifetime, then you probably have a blended family.

If you answered more than three of these statements positively, then . . . well, you got it! You probably belong to a blended family!

Consider yourself blessed!