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Inside the January 2016 Issue of StepMom Magazine

StepMom Magazine January 2016 — The January 2016 Issue

The January 2016 issue of StepMom Magazine is HERE!

This month marks StepMom Magazine’s 7th anniversary! To celebrate, we’ve packed this special edition with information to make your life as a stepmom easier by revealing the truth about becoming a stepmom and sharing tips to help you succeed. This issue is full of candid admissions and insights from therapists, best-selling authors, lawyers, and stepmoms on the front lines.

Wednesday Martin, PhD, author of Stepmonster, shares what she’s learned in her research on stepmom resentment. Feel like you’ve lost yourself since becoming a stepmom? Heather Hetchler offers a few resolutions for reclaiming your old self. And Christina Roach explores the unique impact infertility has on stepmoms.

And that’s just a sampling. Here’s everything you’ll find inside this month’s issue: Continue reading “Inside the January 2016 Issue of StepMom Magazine”

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”

Your 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”

Inside the December 2015 Issue of StepMom Magazine

Stepmom Magazine December 2015 — The December 2015 Issue

The December 2015 issue of StepMom Magazine is HERE!

It’s known as the most wonderful time of the year. But, for many stepmoms, the holidays create unique stress and family tension.

Most families must make decisions about where to celebrate, when and with whom—but stepfamilies face extra challenges. Every year stepmoms ask: When are the kids coming over? Are the kids coming over? How do we manage everyone’s traditions?

The articles in this month’s issue are designed to take you back to simpler times and help you remember that as a stepmom you must focus on what you can control and to let go of what you can’t. You might just find that letting go doesn’t nullify your past—it helps you enjoy the present.

Here’s what’s inside when you subscribe: Continue reading “Inside the December 2015 Issue of StepMom Magazine”

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”

Inside the November 2015 Issue of StepMom Magazine

StepMom Magazine November 2015 — The November 2015 Issue

The November 2015 issue of StepMom Magazine is HERE!

Thanksgiving is just around the corner. It’s a time of the year when we collectively gather to focus on our blessings, not our burdens. In her article on page 15, Trisha Ladogna explains why practicing gratitude–even when we don’t want to–can improve our outlook, our attitude and our overall well-being. But let’s be honest. Feeling grateful, when our lives feel particularly difficult, isn’t easy.

So how do you give thanks when stepfamily life is challenging? You practice. We’ll show you how and much more (like how to stop stressing over the ex, how to get your stepkids to communicate more and what to do if your partner feels caught in the middle between you and his kids) inside this month’s issue.

Here’s what you get when you subscribe: Continue reading “Inside the November 2015 Issue of StepMom Magazine”

Stepfamily Dinners – Inside the November 2015 Issue

Stepfamily Dinners: Games, Strategies and Apps for Great Conversation by Claudette Chenevert

Whenever I think of family dinners, the image of Norman Rockwell’s “Freedom From Want” (which appeared on a 1943 cover of “The Saturday Evening Post” and depicts an animated gathering around a perfectly cooked turkey) I wonder, how can my family look like that?

Is it even possible?

In that painting, Rockwell captured a moment in time—not a lifetime filled with attempts to come together and sit for a meal as a family. Continue reading “Stepfamily Dinners – Inside the November 2015 Issue”

The Stepfamily Recipe – Inside the November 2015 Issue

The Stepfamily Recipe: Satisfy Your Stepfamily’s Needs by Recognizing Its Unique Ingredients by Dianne Martin, BSW, RSW

Many couples enter stepfamily life unaware of the monumental challenges they will encounter—challenges that often result from failing to appreciate the numerous structural and functional differences between first families and remarried families.

After all, the two have just about as much in common as apples and oranges.

Stepcouples frequently find themselves floundering in unfamiliar and unfriendly seas as they begin the process of merging two families. Continue reading “The Stepfamily Recipe – Inside the November 2015 Issue”

Stepmoms and Outsider Syndrome – In the October 2015 Issue

Stepmoms Outsider Syndrome — Inside the October 2015 Issue

Stepmoms and Outsider Syndrome: 7 Ways to Ease the Pain of Feeling Left Out by Claudette Chenevert

Your partner is sitting on the floor, playing with his kids. It’s been a few weeks since they were last together and they seem to be having a good time catching up. Here you are, looking at them, when an empty feeling creeps up inside you.

You try as hard as you can, hoping you’re making all the right moves. You sacrifice your time and space to make sure your partner’s kids feel at home, as if they belong. All the while, you are battling your own demons about what your place is in this relationship. Continue reading “Stepmoms and Outsider Syndrome – In the October 2015 Issue”

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