Part of Georges and I mingling our two lives together into one, has been the process of his children and I becoming comfortable with one another. Statistically speaking, this can be a very painful process for a lot of people even when everyone is trying really hard to make it work. Sometimes it never really works out well and couples have been known to break up over this stuff, which is a scary thought when you're just at the beginning of merging your lives. From the outset I have been concerned about the impact of my presence on the children, and how they would feel about it, and about me. Georges has always been of the opinion that if we, as a couple, are loving with each other and the kids are witness to this, and if we are patient with them and let them find their own way in this new environment that will now include me, that they would be perfectly fine about it in the end, given some time to get to know me.
I will now admit to having been a tad dubious, myself, about how this would work out.
Not because there has ever been anything wrong between me and the children, other than some of them being a bit slower to warm up to me than others -- and I have always known this was totally normal and haven't taken it personally -- and not because I didn't trust Georges to know his own kids better than I ever could, but because I know the stats and I also know kids pretty well, even considering I have none of my own. And kids have a way of forming their own opinions about new people, rightly or wrongly, and those opinions can be mixed up in a lot of conflicting emotions. Will she take my dad's attention away from me? Will she be nice to me? Can I get away with stuff when she's around, or not? If SHE's around, what happens to ME then?
Therefore, I have been very cautious in setting my expectation levels of how quickly they might come to accept me in their lives and in their home. I have never wanted to force closeness or affection from them; these things must evolve naturally. I'd be happy to settle for a gradual building of trust and at least some mutually cordial tolerance as a starting point. After all, they were here first, and I'm just the new kid on the block. Fortunately, I truly LIKE children in general, and I have liked Georges' kids from the start. It has not been hard to like them, as they are very nice young people and each one has his or her good points and interesting qualities I am coming to learn and appreciate.
It's been remarkably smooth, this transition, especially compared to what it might have been (i.e., something approximating Armageddon, let's say).
Although it hasn't been without some very minor bumps, there have been small victories along the way as I have gotten to know the kids: seeing a genuine "Hello, I'm happy to see you" look in their eyes when I come into the house, instead of a "Oh, she's here again" look; having one of them say more than three sentences in succession to me; reading a book or playing a game together; being asked to help with a homework assignment; or getting a bisou hello, goodbye or goodnight where there is some real affection behind it instead of it being a "duty-bisou". After each small step forward, I have felt a bit more confident about the future prospects for building good relationships with these children, and very grateful for each tiny advance.
But last night I got what has been perhaps the biggest and best bonus of all so far: not only did Georges' daughter tell me directly that she is happy I am coming to live there because she likes me, 
but we spent a good hour after dinner having a real old-fashioned girlie gab session where she actually confided things in me. Personal things, even. I shared some things with her, too. And then she said she likes talking to me.
Picture me smiling ear-to-ear on the outside and doing a little "happy feet" dance on the inside. Looks like Georges was right on the nose.
