stepparenting

It's Okay To Ask For Help - And Here's How As a stepmom, you may feel like you should know how to do this job. No, girl, no. There are so many different and unique challenges that every stepmom deals with. It is totally okay to need help. And you should feel comfortable asking [...]

Being a stepmom on Mother's Day can cause a lot of uncomfortable emotions. For weeks, stores are filled with Mother's Day cards and mugs designating "Best Mom Ever" and "#1 Mom." The morning news shows are saturated with segments about Mother's Day gifts and brunches. And you're feeling some combination of left out, like you're an imposter, [...]

Do you ever feel like you just don’t fit in to your stepfamily? Like your dream of actually blending together as a family unit will just never happen? What you're feeling has a name. It's called outsider syndrome. I'd never heard of it when I became a stepmom, but when I heard the term defined I [...]

This year I decided on a stepmom word of the year instead of a New Year's resolution. And it's not too late for you to do it, too!

If you have a friend or family member who married a man with kids, it may not have occurred to you that there are things you should never say to stepmoms. It certainly hadn't occurred to me until I became a stepmom. There are, of course, all kinds of supportive things that you can do [...]

Every stepmom needs her spouse to be her partner in order to succeed. That partnership looks different for every couple, but there are some common threads that should weave together every blended family relationship. I've written before about how hard it was to transition into stepmotherhood. And how alone it can feel. And how so [...]