A fourth Friday the Thirteenth this year got me thinking about them.  Omens.  Signs.  Bad luck curses.  Given the opportunity, most of us will walk around a ladder, rather than under it.  When one of the neighborhood black cats (which a well-meaning lady is annoying the block by feeding) crosses the street in front of my car, I notice.  I have a friend who goes ballistic if you lay a hat on the bed.  My own mother won’t give a wallet or purse as a gift without a penny in it; same goes for a gift of knives.  Smart as we are, superstitions abound.

So, are there special omens, signs of trouble for the blended family?  I can think of a few.  When a child goes on vacation with Dad and brings along a telephone that Mom insists the kid calls her from three or four times a day, that’s a bad sign.  When Dad insists that he have the children for HIS birthday dinner, even during the child’s exams in midweek, that’s a bad sign.  When a parent repeatedly forgets to add the special homework assignment due Monday to the child’s overnight bag, that’s a bad sign.   When Dad insists that the child call her new stepmother mom, you can bet there will be trouble ahead.

Come to think of it, if, at mediation, a parent insists that he or she must have the children for the Friday the Thirteenth holiday, that’s a bad omen!

 A former family court associate judge in Houston, Texas, Patricia Lasher has specialized in family law for more than 20 years.  She has written for numerous consumer magazines and has published a collection of profiles, Texas Women: Interviews and Images.