Stepmoms, Stepkids and Summertime: How to Keep Your Cool When Things Heat Up by Mary T. Kelly, MA
Mark Twain once famously said, “The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco.” If you’ve ever been to the Bay Area, you’ll know exactly what he meant. As a stepmom, you may also find a correlation.
It’s the heat of summer now, yet you may be nursing a cold, cold heart.
Many women whose partners have children feel this way during the summer months. Some of you have stepkids who will come stay for a month—or even the whole summer. Others are sticking with the regular yearlong schedule. That leaves you and your partner scrambling to figure out how to supervise the kids when they’re not in school.
Some of that responsibility may have even fallen on you. If you work at home, you may be dealing with the constant noise and interruptions kids so naturally bring with them. Because of this, you may feel cold and lonely inside. I know for a fact that many of you do, having heard from you long before the arrival of summer (when you first began to dread a season that was yet to come).
You resent the fact that months which normally bring some relief and the promise of fun have turned into a time of apprehension. You’ve been taking a lot of deep breaths—and for good reason. Your world got turned upside down! By now, you may have even gone on a so-called vacation with your stepkids and wish for a monthlong spa visit (or a coma) just to recover.
It may help to know that you’re not the only one who’s annoyed by the constant presence of kids. Most biological parents feel the same way. Their space has been invaded, their homes are a constant mess, the noise level requires construction-grade earplugs and they, too, are counting down the days until school begins.
But there’s some good news here! You still have time to get through summer without gutting it out on a daily basis. What follows are tips for keeping your cool without losing your mind!
…To read the rest of this article and learn how to handle summer visitation like a pro, log in to your account and download the July 2016 issue. Don’t have an account? Click here to subscribe.