Taking the plunge...

[DLCC]

Hi there, well DP and I have decided to take the next step and move in together. We have found a house to rent with enough space, perfect location (halfway between him and I) and within budget. I am renting out my home (DP is already in rented). My boys (9&4) are with me most of the time (with their Dad EOW) and his (10&8) will be with us 50%, (every Wednesday and Thursday night) and every other Fri, Sat, Sun. Our weekends are in sync so that we have EOW on our own. All the boys get on but I know it's not going to be an easy ride initially with rules, regulations, competition etc...

Any tips or advice from those who have been there before would be greatly received!

We put together some "house rules" before moving in together, with input from the DCs and pinned them on the fridge. They cover bedtimes, computer hours, food that they can help themselves to (or not) and general behaviour towards others (not hitting, etc). It's been useful having it written down.

The other think we've found to be really important is always to be the "bad cop" to our own children - so wherever possible we are the ones to enforce things they don't want to do. A year and a half on, everything's overall going well and it's been lovely to see how our youngest two (both 9 when we moved in together) have got on as they're great playmates now. But there's still quite a bit of insecurity from my DD (now 10) in particular who sometimes feels DP isn't treating her the same as he treats his own. I think it takes constant conscious effort to compensate from your own natural tendency to understand your own children better.