Listen to each member of the family and make sure each child's voice is heard. Holding regularly family meetings creates an open environment to discuss progress and problems and to work through issues as a team. Make sure the opinion and feelings of every child are heard so that no one feels overlooked or invisible, which can easily happen in a blended family. Encourage open and free communication and work to create a calming and supportive environment where children feel free to discuss their feelings. As a family, create a list of family rules and display them in a prominent place. Discussing the rules as a new family helps everyone's voice be heard and gives each child a buy-in to follow the rules. Children from different backgrounds and upbringings may have different ideas of rules, so do your best to mediate the situation and find a compromise without playing favorites. Create a safe environment for your new family and have roles for each stepparent. Be aware that your biological child may react differently to guidance and discipline from their new stepparent. At the beginning, it may be helpful to maintain control as the main disciplinarian to your own child instead of risking your child alienating their stepparent. It can be helpful for the stepparent to fill the role of friend or counselor, at least at first, in order to build a strong relationship with your child. Use your already established routines to bond with everyone. Examples of fun bonding activities include: Spending Friday movie night together. Cooking weekend breakfasts. Having family dinner together. Monthly hiking or biking trips. Going on your annual summer vacations together. Creating opportunities for all members of the blended family to participate in an activity together will help each child feel welcomed and accepted. Many new blended families go on a vacation together to celebrate their new life. This can be beneficial to some families, but the key is to establish routines and rituals in everyday life, not just in vacation mode. Find a tradition or activity that works for your family, such as weekly game or sports nights, eating a special food each week, or a monthly trip to the zoo, and follow through. Getting the input of each child when deciding the activity can also help with a smooth transition. Regular family activities give children something to look forward to and help them feel that they are part of something bigger. It also creates a fun environment for the family to connect on a more casual level. When it comes to holidays and existing traditions you may have with your biological child, don't throw them away or disregard them now that you have a new family. Children crave consistency and having a tradition from their old life can be a comforting reminder of how things were while also strengthening your bond with your child. If you and your child have always baked sugar cookies together around Christmas, make sure to keep that tradition alive even after you join a step-family.
++++++++++
One-sentence summary -- Hold regular family meetings. Work together to create rules for the whole family. Create roles for each parent. Spend quality time with the whole family. Create new traditions together. Try to incorporate your biological child's traditions.

Writing a person's name down is a visual cue that can help increase your recall. When someone tells you their name, immediately take the time to write it down. You can jot it down in a notepad, for instance, or even just a napkin. You may not have time to write the name down right away. Just be sure to stop and take a moment as soon as you can to write down names. Another visual cue that can help you remember later is to make notes about the person under the person's name. Maybe the mentioned their family or where they like to go for coffee. Maybe they mentioned a pastime or a hobby. Jotting these things down can help clue you in later, and serve as a visual reminder. While just looking at a name won't help you remember as well as writing the name, seeing the name can help. When they hand you the card, be sure to study the name for a second to cement it in your brain. Plus, a business card can serve as a reminder later if you forget. Another visual cue you can use is to type their name and number into your phone. Ask them to spell out their name. That way, you're getting the exact spelling, as well as stomping it into your memory. Another option is to have them type it in, so that you get the exact spelling. Then you can look the person up on social media later.
++++++++++
One-sentence summary -- Jot the person's name down. Write down some notes about the person. Request a business card. Type the name in your phone.

Medium and long hairstyles are typically better than short cuts if you want to draw attention away from certain features. Short hairstyles frame the face and highlight the nose, which can make it look even larger. Medium and long cuts balance out your facial features, making them appear smaller. Straight, blunt styles create more straight vertical lines and emphasize the largest straight line on your faceyour nose. Put layers in your hair, instead, to create a softer and more rounded look. While all layer styles are better than blunt styles, feathery layers are the best of the best. This texture is especially soft and wavy, so it provides the greatest amount of balance against the straight line of your nose. In general, adding waves and curves to your hair will break up and balance out any harsh lines on your face. The bridge of your nose is the longest, most visible straight line on your face. Use a diffuser, hair rollers, or a curling iron to add a wavy texture to your hair. Sleek, tight ponytails can make your facial features appear sharper and more severe. As a result, the angles and size of your nose will stand out more. When you tie your hair back in a ponytail or sweep it into an up-do, choose a somewhat messy style. Create body at the crown and allow a few stray strands to swoop down, framing your face in a subtle curve. A center part will fall out directly above your nose, extending the straight line of your nose and drawing more attention to that particular feature. In contrast, a side part offsets the lines of your face, breaking them up and making your nose stand out less. Bangs can help hide a large nose, but you should generally avoid bangs that hang down at blunt, sharp angles. Straight lines will only draw more attention to the straight line of your nose. When getting bangs, consider side swept bangs that break up the angles of your face or wispy bangs that that soften the lines of your face. While bangs can work, keeping hair off the face altogether may actually help more, especially if you don't like the way bangs look with your face shape. The idea here is to balance out your facial features with one another. When hair covers your forehead or the sides of your face, these features get lost while your nose remains very visible. As a result, your nose appears to take up more space on your face. Keeping hair off your face can prevent this from happening. That said, men who want to hide a big nose might find that a beard or mustache can help balance out their features.
++++++++++
One-sentence summary --
Let your hair grow. Cut layers into your hair. Add waves or curls. Avoid neat ponytails. Part your hair to the side. Play with bangs. Keep the hair off your face.