Ex-etiquette: Your 'bonus child' and the difference in routine in her new home

Most who are attempting to combine families have to admit to hearing the words, ‘That’s not how we do it at Mum’s (or Dad’s) house’, and will agree that it’s pretty close to hearing fingernails on a chalkboard. Photo: TNS/Dreamstime

My husband and I have been married almost four years and I have a seven-year-old bonus daughter.

Our morning routine consists of five people (including my son and a new baby) taking showers, eating breakfast, dressing... the normal hectic schedule of most households on a school morning!