Family Reordering: New Households and New Patterns of Parenting

In this chapter we consider some of the ways in which reordered families interrelate both practically and emotionally with the families that have preceded them and continue to coexist in different forms alongside them. Reordered families usually bring previous baggage with them, losses of former close relationships, hurt, jealousy and disappointment, many of the stressful effects of transitions still present in current lives. These stresses need to be taken into account by parents in planning the management of reorganised family life, and time needs to be set aside for talking about the hopes and plans for the future. Thought also needs to be given to the difficulty many children have in coming to terms with living in close proximity with strange adults, an issue that often escapes attention at a time of complex family change.