Even if you and your sweetie are very much in love, “blending” is not the word that most would use to describe daily living in a stepfamily, especially in the early years. In fact, stepfamily structure makes a very different foundation upon which to build a family. The good news is that we now have decades of practice and research that tell us what works, and what doesn’t, to build a successful thriving stepfamily. The bad news is that this information is just beginning to be available to the public (including therapists), and it is often not intuitive!