Stepfamily Life – 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
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
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”

Interview with Meghan King Edmonds: Stepmom and RHOC Star – Inside the March 2016 Issue

Meghan King Edmonds Stepmom
Inside the March 2016 Issue

Interview with Meghan King Edmonds: Stepmom and Real Housewives of OC Star by Brenda Ockun

Meghan King Edmonds is a fascinating woman. She’s a cast member on Bravo TV’s reality show  “The Real Housewives of Orange County,” a wife to former All-Star baseball player Jim Edmonds and a stepmother of four.

Continue reading “Interview with Meghan King Edmonds: Stepmom and RHOC Star – Inside the March 2016 Issue”

Inside the February 2016 Issue of Stepmom Magazine

Stepmom Magazine February 2016
The February 2016 Issue

The February 2016 issue of StepMom Magazine is HERE!

In this month’s edition, we address lots of different sources of struggle and frustration.

Are you having trouble making time for sex? Read Wednesday Martin’s tips for “Getting It On!” (p. 11). Got a mini-wife in your midst? Mary Kelly helps you remedy that situation on p. 16. Think you “should” have mastered this gig already? Christina Roach sets you straight on p. 32. Rachelle Katz even weighs in—on thorny Valentine’s surprises (p. 5).

Most importantly, The February 2016 issue of StepMom Magazine offers advice on how to work together with your partner to keep your relationship strong for the long haul!

Continue reading “Inside the February 2016 Issue of Stepmom Magazine”

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”

Gratitude for Stepmoms – Inside the November 2015 Issue

stepmom gratitude
Inside the November 2015 Issue

Gratitude for Stepmoms: The Benefits of Being Thankful Every Day by Trisha Ladogna

It’s that time of year—Thanksgiving— when we gather for a family holiday that compels those in the U.S. to count their blessings and give thanks—in addition, of course, to watching football, cooking and eating.

Taking a day out each year (with your loved ones) to reflect on what you are thankful for is a beautiful tradition worth celebration. But once a year just doesn’t seem to be enough, and, for those of us who have chosen to be stepmothers, it probably isn’t. Continue reading “Gratitude for Stepmoms – Inside the November 2015 Issue”

The Stepfamily Recipe – Inside the November 2015 Issue

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”