Gentle-Respectful:Make a New Friend
Let's say you got a new neighbor and I told you to make a new friend. What would you NOT do? Well, you wouldn't barge your way into their home uninvited and declare yourself their new BFF. No, you'd enter when you're invited. Stepparents need to be gentle-respectful of the boundaries of kids; meet them where they are. If the door is wide open, step on in. If they keep it shut, talk through the door until they open it. You can't force friendship, but you can grow it one step at a time.
Show Notes
About the Host
About the Guest
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Let's say you got a new neighbor and I told you to make a new friend. What would you NOT do? Well, you wouldn't barge your way into their home uninvited and declare yourself their new BFF. No, you'd enter when you're invited. Stepparents need to be gentle-respectful of the boundaries of kids; meet them where they are. If the door is wide open, step on in. If they keep it shut, talk through the door until they open it. You can't force friendship, but you can grow it one step at a time.
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Ron Deal
Ron L. Deal is one of the most widely read and viewed experts on blended families in the country. He is Director of FamilyLife Blended® for FamilyLife®, founder of Smart Stepfamilies™, and the author and Consulting Editor of the Smart Stepfamily Series of books including the bestselling Building Love Together in Blended Families: The 5 Love Languages® and Becoming Stepfamily Smart (with Dr. Gary Chapman), The Smart Stepfamily: 7 Steps to a Healthy Family, and Preparing to Blend. Ron is a licensed marriage and family therapist, popular conference speaker, and host of the FamilyLife Blended podcast. He and his wife, Nan, have three sons and live in Little Rock, Arkansas. Learn more at FamilyLife.com/blended.
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To make a friend, be gentle-respectful.
