thanks for replying Claire_A

I am in victoria too Melbourne

My stepsons were 8 and 11 when we met so one on the verge of the teenage years and my boy was 15 so an awkward time for him

It has been a bumpy road at times and never a dull moment
I found it mostly goes well but 1 of my ss is not so open to it all
We have a 9 month old too and so its a new challenge again for them all and for us as parents and doing it together my son and 1 ss love the baby but the other ss is not very interested

As you have said being a teenager is hard for most of us I found that letting my husband take the lead with the his boys is great but if we are not on the same page it can be tricky


we also did the weekend stays and holidays but as the boys got older they wanted to live with us which is good but constant too

We try to always do the best we can for the kids