Let me rewind a bit. I grew up an only child. I was born when my parents were in their late thirties and I was the center of their universe. As a girl, I envisioned growing up and having a large family. my children would never fight and everyone would get along great. I know that you feel like throwing up from all the sweetness, but I truly thought that this is how it would be. When you don't have siblings and live the day-to-day realities of life in a big family, you fantasize how it would be.
Fast forward to today. In our blended family we have so many different personalities it can get overwhelming at times. However, I am navigating through them all and realizing that everyone in our family has something positive to contribute. We don't all offer the same thing but we can benefit from each person. Our different personalities help to make our family unique and very interesting.
Something else I have learned is to not have set expectations of how I think relationships should be. By expecting them to be a certain way, I set myself up for failure. Because of all the different personalities, and many of my family members have not been around me all of their life, our pattern of thinking is different from each other. The experience of being in a blended family, especially after growing up as an only child has really opened my eyes and helped me to be more open minded to different perspectives.
One last thing I have realized in all of this is that I only have control of myself. So all I really can do is be me and contribute what I have to offer. And of course when things start to get a bit too much, I take a break and get a shish kabob!
