Holidays Archives - Page 3 of 4

Stepfamily Traditions: Inside the December 2016 Issue

Bring on the Holidays, Stepmom! Ways to Thrive as Your Family Merges Its Traditions by Brenda Snyder, LCSW

Whether you welcome the cooling temperatures or dread them, the change of seasons signals the time period most fraught with emotion by many stepmoms—the holidays.

Stepmoms new to their families might be filled with expectation and excitement while stepmoms with painful holiday memories might meet the festivities with dread and despair. Wherever you find yourself on the spectrum, insight and planning ahead can give you the best chance of a time filled with celebration and good will. Continue reading “Stepfamily Traditions: Inside the December 2016 Issue”

Stepfamily Holiday Blues: Inside the December 2016 Issue

Stepfamily Holiday Blues: Learning to Celebrate a Season for Two by Claudette Chenevert

IT’S CHRISTMAS MORNING. You wake up all excited but soon realize that this year is different. This Christmas will not be spent opening presents with your stepkids or even your own kids.

This Christmas it’s going to be just you and your spouse. A lump forms in your throat, as you think about it. You know it’s just another day, right? So what if you don’t have a houseful of squealing kids shouting “YES! I got my new phone!” or “Thanks for this gift. I really like it!”

Last year—for the first time, as we’re now parents of adult children—Bernard and I experienced Christmas without any of our kids. Continue reading “Stepfamily Holiday Blues: Inside the December 2016 Issue”

Stepfamily Holidays: Inside the November 2016 Issue

Whose Holiday Is It, Anyway? Make Your Stepfamily Holidays Merry and Bright by Claudette Chenevert and Christine G. Adamo

Have your plans ever been foiled by an ex wanting to take a spur-of-the-moment holiday trip sans kids? A wacky plan to which your partner said, “Yeah, we’ll take ’em!”— thus extinguishing your sugar plum visions of dinner and dancing with the sweetie on New Year’s Eve? (We have.)

Maybe your at-home stepfamily Christmas celebration was derailed by a text Continue reading “Stepfamily Holidays: Inside the November 2016 Issue”

Feeling Like an Outsider – Inside the December 2015 Issue

Stepmoms Home Alone: Avoid Feeling Like an Outsider This Holiday Season by Mary T. Kelly, MA

Do you remember the movie “Home Alone,” in which the harried parents of several children leave one of them behind while rushing out to catch a plane for a Christmas holiday trip?

The 8-year-old kid who’s left behind, Kevin (memorably portrayed by Macaulay Culkin), is stunned to find out he’s home alone. But he ends up being quite resourceful, avoiding unwanted intruders who were initially after the family goods and then shifted their focus to doing him harm just to get even with him.

You may be able to relate to that forgotten kid. You anticipate the holidays with dread, Continue reading “Feeling Like an Outsider – Inside the December 2015 Issue”

Stepmom Gifts – Inside the December 2015 Issue

The Best Gifts You Can Give A Stepmom: Advice for Friends and Family by Claudette Chenevert

The holiday season is a time when we often feel more giving, generous and helpful toward others. We’re in the mood to share of ourselves and our thoughts, but sometimes the gifts we give and receive may not be what a person wants—or needs—most.

If there’s a stepmom on your holiday shopping list, this article is for you. It presents several ways you and others can give her the best gifts of all because if there is one area of life in which we all get bombarded with advice, it’s parenting. Continue reading “Stepmom Gifts – Inside the December 2015 Issue”

Stepmom Myths – Inside the December 2015 Issue

The Truth About Being a Stepmom: Replace Those Old Stepmom Myths With New Mantras by Brenda Snyder, LCSW

Almost everything you hear early on in stepmother life serves no purpose except to make you feel bad about yourself. People are full of advice about how you should feel, how you can make yourself into a better or more supportive parent and how you shouldn’t expect anything from the kids—especially at first. (At first? You’ve been with this family for five years!)

Even well-meaning friends give laughable advice—fit for a traditional family, perhaps, but certainly not for a stepmom. Most people simply miss the point. Women in love with men who have children are a special breed. Continue reading “Stepmom Myths – Inside the December 2015 Issue”

A Stepmom’s Christmas Carol – Inside the December 2015 Issue

A Stepmom’s Christmas Carol: Lessons From the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future by Christina Roach, LMHC, NCC, DCC

The holidays are one of my favorite times of the year. Decorating the house, baking Christmas cookies, sipping hot cocoa while snuggled together watching snowfall … throw in some carolers and you have the makings of a picture-prefect celebration.

Whether your style is to go over-the-top during the holidays or take a more laid-back approach, there are most likely traditions you’ve carried with you from your childhood. They’ve become part of how you define the holidays. Without them, the festivities would seem a little less merry and bright. Continue reading “A Stepmom’s Christmas Carol – Inside the December 2015 Issue”

Long-Distance Stepfamily Holidays – In the December 2015 Issue

Long-Distance Holidays Stepfamily Style: 5 Ways to Connect When You Can’t Be Together by Heather Hetchler, MA

Holidays and family go together. Except when they don’t. There are many reasons stepfamilies aren’t together for the holidays. Sometimes, it’s a legal decree. Other times, one parent changes plans at the last minute or won’t allow the kids to come over. Kids may even choose (or be forced to choose) not to come to your home for the holidays at all.

It can be heartbreaking to have plans changed, children withheld or not be chosen as the home where the kids celebrate. Continue reading “Long-Distance Stepfamily Holidays – In the December 2015 Issue”

3 Things Stepmoms Want Most for Mother’s Day

Every year millions of stepmoms wonder if they’ll get the call.

Which call? The one in which the voice on the other end of the phone says: “Hey! I know you’re not my mom, but I wanted to wish you a Happy Mother’s Day anyway. I think you’re pretty cool and I know you care a lot about my dad and our entire family. Thanks for everything you do for me.” Continue reading “3 Things Stepmoms Want Most for Mother’s Day”

Be Featured: StepMom Magazine’s 2015 Father’s Day Edition

June 2014 StepMom Magazine — The June 2014 Issue

We’re looking for one, fabulous (and madly in love!) stepcouple to feature on the cover of the June 2015 issue of StepMom Magazine!

This annual edition is a StepMom Magazine reader favorite! In honor of Father’s Day, it features articles written exclusively for men. It’s a great tool for dads and stepmoms who want to learn, grow and strengthen their relationship – together.

To be considered, send an email to: Publisher@StepMomMagazine.com and include:

* A great photo of just you and your partner (large file, hi-res)
* Your names, address, phone number, occupations
* Relationship status and length of time together
* Number of children & stepchildren (yours and his)
* A few sentences about your story (how you met, your challenges)
* What you love most about him

The cover couple will be notified by email. We will feature as many other couples as possible in a special Father’s Day photo collage section.

Login

Reset Password