Children are the number one reason why remarriages don’t last. Children often sabotage their parent’s new marriage. Children have many reasons for doing this. Here is a partial list: a. Dislike for the new stepparent. b. Erosion of hope that their natural parents will get back together. c. Realization that there is power in pitting one parent against the other. d. Jealousy of the new stepparent. e. Dislike of being parented by a stranger. d. Need for attention. Fights over how to parent the children can lead to many embittered feelings. Couples encounter problems when the physical parent won’t allow discipline to occur at all, or when stepparents insist on taking on the parenting role too soon. Other potentially hostile problems can occur when there is a blending of two sets of children. Favoritism can have a caustic underlying effect on the whole family structure.