Category: Sample Articles

Teenage Stepchildren – Inside the January 2016 Issue

teenage stepchildren
Inside the January 2016 Issue

Stepfamily Growing Pains – Tips on Handling Teens Who Don’t (or Won’t!) Come Around Anymore by Mary T. Kelly, MA

Have you and your partner heard these words from a defiant teenager who no longer wants to go back and forth between two homes and only wants to live with his mom? “I don’t want to live here anymore!” If so, the two of you are not alone.

Let’s be honest here. If you have stepkids who are difficult teenagers, for you this may be a blessing in disguise. But for your partner—their father—it’s devastating.  It’s tough enough for your partner to only have custody of his kids part-time. Finding out he has a kid who has no desire to live with him is like a punch in the gut. Continue reading “Teenage Stepchildren – Inside the January 2016 Issue”

Stepmoms and Infertility – Inside the January 2016 Issue

Stepmom Infertility
Inside the January 2016 Issue

Infertility – The Secret Pain Many Stepmoms Suffer by Christina Roach, LMHC, NCC, DCC

Being a stepmom has its share of ups and downs—as each of us know all too well. The experience can become devastating, though, when faced with infertility concerns.

Regardless of the degree to which children are desired, the inability to conceive dismantles the image of mother, father and child walking hand-in-hand. It has the crushing strength of a wrecking ball that rips through a building as it’s demolished, crumbling it relentlessly to the ground.

What’s left can feel like a barren wasteland. Empty. Dark. Hopeless. Continue reading “Stepmoms and Infertility – Inside the January 2016 Issue”

Understanding Your Stepkids – Inside the January 2016 Issue

understanding your stepkids
Inside the January 2016 Issue

Tips for Understanding Your Stepkids – Start the New Year off Right! by Claudette Chenevert

Being in a stepfamily is no walk in the park for any of us. There are times when things are great and everyone is getting along— even having fun together. Then there are other times when being in a stepfamily is a nightmare. As stepmoms, we know this only too well, but it’s also true from the children’s perspectives.

While living through the separation and eventual divorce of their parents, our stepkids experienced a lot of insecurity. Where would they live? Who would they live with? And for how long? At the time, they were (and probably remain) understandably scared, unsure, angry and distraught at losing control over nearly every aspect of their lives. Continue reading “Understanding Your Stepkids – Inside the January 2016 Issue”

Interview with Jamie Tompkins – Inside the January 2016 Issue

Interview with Jamie Tompkins
Inside the January 2016 Issue

Jamie Tompkins – TV Journalist—and Stepmom! The Seattle-Based TV Anchor on Stepmoms, Stereotypes and Media Shortfalls Interview by Brenda Ockun, Founder and Publisher of StepMom Magazine

To say Jamie Tompkins is confident is an understatement. Over the last 10 years, this Q13 Fox News broadcast journalist has taken every opportunity to share her stepmom experience with audiences from coast to coast—on live TV no less.

It clearly takes a lot to rattle an anchor who’s no stranger to A-listers, grills politicians like nobody’s business, steps into jailhouses to interview convicted felons and chases down tornadoes in the name of journalism … without the slightest hint of a stray hair! Yet, she says, nothing prepared her for life’s toughest assignment: being a stepmom. Continue reading “Interview with Jamie Tompkins – Inside the January 2016 Issue”

Stepmom Resentment – Inside the January 2016 Issue

Stepmom Resentment
Inside the January 2016 Issue

Stepmoms and Resentment: What It Means and Why You’re Not Alone by Wednesday Martin, PhD

In the course of researching my book, “Stepmonster: A New Look at Why Real Stepmothers Think, Feel, and Act the Way We Do,” I was reminded time and again that there are a handful of emotions that are just too taboo for those of us married to men with kids to admit having.

Often an interview with one of my subjects would have to go on for 30 or 45 minutes before the woman speaking with me felt she could express feelings she feared I might judge her for having. More than once, I had to pave the way to disclosure by going first: “There were days I was so angry at my husband and his daughter for shutting me out that I wanted to leave.” Continue reading “Stepmom Resentment – Inside the January 2016 Issue”

Your Stepchild’s Perspective – Inside the January 2016 Issue

A Stepchild's Perspective
Inside the January 2016 Issue

A Stepchild’s Perspective on Forging Relationships – Understanding What Works and What Doesn’t by Trisha Ladogna

In February 2015, Todd M. Jensen, MSW, LCSWA, and Matthew O. Howard, PhD, MSW (both representing University of North Carolina’s School of Social Work), completed a systemic review of stepchildren’s views about what makes for a positive stepparent-stepchild relationship.

They said it wasn’t an easy task, as the majority of stepfamily literature over the past decade had focused on only adults’ opinions of stepfamily life. Jensen and Howard, along with the rest of us I’m sure, found this “odd and unfortunate because stepfamilies, by definition, wouldn’t exist without the presence of children.” Continue reading “Your Stepchild’s Perspective – Inside the January 2016 Issue”

Feeling Like an Outsider – Inside the December 2015 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

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

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

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”