And even when we make an effort to include single-parent families, we still fail to include stepfamily examples, images, and language. Support groups that provide settings for adults to talk with one another about what it means to be a stepparent are helpful. Groups for children and youth are also important. In many stepfamilies, the children move in and out of the family configuration. If both spouses have children from previous marriages, at any given point in time the children in the household may shift and change.
Some weeks there are five children.
Other weeks, there may be only one in the household. Even adults who move from an unhappy marriage to a happy one still experience the loss of the previous relationship and the hope and dream with which they began the previous marriage. It is important to recognize that stepfamilies are a different kind of family with different needs because of prior family experiences. Stepfamilies often have to create new rituals and celebrations. To have everyone in the new family present at a given holiday is often difficult.