StepMom Magazine - See What's Inside

The High-Conflict Ex – Inside the April 2016 Issue

High Conflict Ex Wife — Inside the April 2016 Issue

The High-Conflict Ex: 5 Tips for Managing Your Partner’s Past by Trisha Ladogna

Dealing with a high-conflict ex can be one of the hardest things a stepcouple faces. It can be difficult to know what to do or where to get the right support. The tension and conflict it stirs up can cause us to act against our natural instincts when it comes to arriving at trusting, open, empathetic responses and managing difficulty.

If not handled well, it can cause us to become edgy and feel defensive—or entirely helpless. These negative feelings and responses can then spill over into our relationships with our partners, children and stepchildren to create chaos in our most important relationships. Continue reading “The High-Conflict Ex – Inside the April 2016 Issue”

Stepmom Sanity Savers – Inside the April 2016 Issue

Stepmom Sanity Savers: 4 Secret Moves to a More Empowered You by Iishana Artra, PhD

A hallmark of sanity is possessing good judgment when faced with real life circumstances. As renowned expert Patricia L. Papernow, PhD, says, in stepfamilies, “What works is not intuitive.” In other words, good judgment here is largely a matter of stopping ourselves from stepparenting by reflex.

Seven years, according to Papernow, is the average time it takes to get the hang of stepfamily life. If we’re lucky? Four years. For some, surviving the learning curve is like climbing a 3,000-foot cliff in the rain, in winter, without shoes on and while dodging falling rocks. One sudden move could lead to all sorts of ruin. (That’s how I felt the first time I gave it a whirl.) Continue reading “Stepmom Sanity Savers – Inside the April 2016 Issue”

Stepfamily Insights With Patricia L. Papernow, PhD – Inside the April 2016 Issue

New Stepfamily Insights: Our Special Interview With Patricia L. Papernow, PhD by Claudette Chenevert

There are several questions stepmoms have asked me over the years. They include:

◃ “Why won’t my stepkids listen to me?”
◃ “Will I ever feel included in this family?”
◃ “What can I do differently to create a happy family?”

It seems that, as stepmoms, we have this dream of coming together and being one, big, happy family. I recently had the privilege of talking with Patricia L. Papernow, PhD, about her latest book “Surviving and Thriving in Stepfamily Relationships: What Works and What Doesn’t.” Continue reading “Stepfamily Insights With Patricia L. Papernow, PhD – Inside the April 2016 Issue”

Stepfamily Life – Inside the April 2016 Issue

The Truth About Stepfamily Life: The Path to Peace Begins With Acceptance by Brenda Snyder LCSW

My job, as a writer and a stepmom coach, allows me to wear a few different hats. Most of the time I get to be an upbeat, cheerleadery type who encourages and assures clients that, “This is really hard, but you can do it!”

When we get down to work, I put on my coaching hat to help stepmoms and couples develop a new game plan. (Ya gotta have a strong defense!) The hat I find hardest to wear, however, is probably the most effective. It’s the one I wear when I challenge stepmoms to face unpleasant truths and then give them unpopular advice. Continue reading “Stepfamily Life – Inside the April 2016 Issue”

Parenting Tips for Stepmoms – Inside the April 2016 Issue

Parenting Tips for Stepmoms: My Kids + Your Kids = Parenting Together by Christina Roach, LMHC, NCC, DCC

The 1970s TV sitcom “The Brady Bunch” presented a skewed view of stepfamily life. Despite the fact that Mike and Carol Brady each brought three children into their marriage, they never seemed to argue about how they parented each other’s kids.

Whether they were interacting with their biological children or their partner’s, everyone simply seemed to get along. And any antics that did surface were nicely resolved by the end of each episode. Continue reading “Parenting Tips for Stepmoms – Inside the April 2016 Issue”

Expecting Stepmoms – Inside the April 2016 Issue

Expecting Stepmoms: What You Need to Know About Babies and “Blending” by Wednesday Martin, PhD

The woman’s tone was urgent, almost anxious. She had called into a radio show I was doing to promote my book, “Stepmonster,” and I wished I had longer to talk to her about having what the experts call “a mutual child.” For the women I interviewed while writing my book, the issue of whether to have one (or more) kids together or not was often a deal-breaker.

“I decided I wasn’t going to marry Jack and take on his two girls—cute and lovable as they are— without us having a child together, too,” a woman I’ll call Laura told me, explaining, “What can I say, it just felt like having a baby of our own would sort of even things out.” Continue reading “Expecting Stepmoms – Inside the April 2016 Issue”

Inside the March 2016 Issue of Stepmom Magazine

StepMom Magazine March 2016 — The March 2016 Issue

The March 2016 issue of StepMom Magazine is HERE!

Being a stepmom is a job no one gets right in the beginning. No one. That’s why we explore and offer solutions to some of the most common challenges faced by all stepmoms in this month’s issue.

From learning how to prioritize your relationship to stepfamily estate planning to finding ways to improve your relationship with your stepchild, you’ll find it inside this month’s edition.

AND we talk with Meghan King Edmonds: stepmom and Real Housewives of OC star. She dishes about her life in front of the cameras, her homerun-hitting husband and what she’s learned (the hard way!) about being a stepmom.

Here’s what’s inside if you subscribe: Continue reading “Inside the March 2016 Issue of Stepmom Magazine”

Stepfamily Life – Inside the March 2016 Issue

Taking the Stepfamily Plunge: Add Value to Stepfamily Life by Being Vulnerable by Mary T. Kelly, MA

You met a great guy—the kind of guy you’d been waiting for. He had so many of the qualities you wanted that you couldn’t believe your good fortune in finding him. Sure, he had kids. But he was worth the extra effort. You had no idea (nor could you possibly have imagined) that partnering with this wonderful guy would take you down a road of vulnerability like no other.

And, at some point, you were not only sharing your life with your new partner. You also started sharing it with his children. Continue reading “Stepfamily Life – Inside the March 2016 Issue”

Younger Stepmoms – Inside the March 2016 Issue

The Younger Stepmom: Strategies for Women Partnered With Older Men by Brenda Snyder, LCSW

As if being a stepmom wasn’t hard enough, many stepcouples face another challenge—an age gap. And, while none of us is immune to the unflattering stereotypes heaped onto stepmoms (i.e., tramp, gold digger, trophy wife and evil homewrecker), those slurs are often hurled more harshly at younger women who partner with older men.

Those stereotypes don’t even hint at the fact that we love and are committed to our partners (be they young, old or somewhere in between). Continue reading “Younger Stepmoms – Inside the March 2016 Issue”

Stepcouple Strategies – Inside the March 2016 Issue

Successful Stepcouple Strategies: The Why and What of Putting Your Marriage First by Heather Hetchler, MA

Two people fall in love and decide to marry or partner for life. They make the decision together and enter the union with love, hope and a commitment to stick with it for better or worse.

Unlike a first-time marriage, children often come with the vows made in a remarriage. Those children, regardless of age, are part of the newly created family. But they do not make the choice to form a new family. Nor are they the reason for it. The reason for the remarriage is the love and commitment shared by the two people saying, “I do.” Continue reading “Stepcouple Strategies – Inside the March 2016 Issue”

Login

Reset Password