Holiday Countdown Tip #2: Prioritize Sex, Romance, and Couple Time
Thanks for all your tips. Please keep them coming. Today's tip comes courtesy of Susan and PL. Susan writes:
When and Why the Kids Don't Come First
I would love your thoughts on my new piece on stepmothering for the Huffington Post: please post a comment!
4 Steps to Nurture a Remarriage w/Kids
Check out this article on Belief Net. What steps do YOU take to nurture your marriage? I'm all ears...so post a comment on belief net or my blog.
xx wednesday
"I Don't Want This Baby After All"! New Post on Psychology Today Blog
Have you been following the story about the family that adopted a one-year-old baby, but decided they couldn't continue to be his parents after 18 months? Please check out my new post on my Psychology Today blog: " 'I don't want this baby after all!': Judging Anita Tedaldi."
Permissive Mom and Dad, "Strict" Stepmom: What to Do?
Different Rules, Different Homes It can drive a woman with stepkids crazy!
Now Blogging on Psychology Today
I'm now posting for psychologytoday.com about women with stepchildren. I'll be posting there weekly, and the posts will be different from the ones on my own blog. Have a read...
His kids don't like me!
Who, aside from me, remembers the academy award acceptance speech by Sally Field (for Norma Rae) which culminated in the cringe-inducing, much maligned exclamation, "You like me! You really, really like me!" as she cradled her Oscar and choked back tears?
Jealous Much?
There's no emotion more taboo for a woman with stepchildren to admit to feeling (let alone actually express) than jealousy. And there's no more potent stereotype than a green-eyed stepmonster. Who wants to be that ugly cliche? No one. And so we bend over backwards, many of us, and protest too much, insisting that we would never, ever, ever Feel Like That.
It's Not Over 'til It's Over, But...
As I researched my book over the last three years, lots of women with older and adult stepchildren shared with me their sense of frustration upon discovering that stepparenting isn't just suddenly over or easier once the kids turn 18, or 21, or move out of the house. Sometimes, a father's emotional commitments and financial contributions continue into a stepchild's thirties and beyond. We're not talking about caring and spotting someone $20 for cab fare here. Women have told me stories of husbands who unilaterally decide to pay a thirty-something child's rent for the long haul, or remain embroiled in unhealthy emotional dynamics more suited to a parent and an adolescent.