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Fieldnotes

Piling the pressure on women in stepfamilies this holiday season....

Published by Wednesday Martin
Don't let ridiculous expectations tangle you up this holiday season
Don't let ridiculous expectations tangle you up this holiday season

I have heard from a number of you about Judith Graham's story in the Dec 24th issue of the New York Times health section. This is the kind of story the media loves, about "co-wives" who get along great and become BFFs. Sure, it's a nice and heartwarming story of one woman caring for another. Unfortunately, the media's fixation with these types of stories about "the ex wife and the new wife who are best pals," and the readers' comments — "Most divorced people I know stay friends after," etc. — naively and damagingly imply that repartnership with children is "easy" if everybody is just "nice." And that, if you don't have your parnter's ex for the holidays (or to your wedding), and if you aren't "close," there is something "wrong" with you.


April Issue of StepMom Magazine!

Published by Wednesday Martin
Read all about it--including my article on disengaging
Read all about it--including my article on disengaging

The new issue of StepMom magazine is now available. In it, you will find sound advice, compassion and the information you need to keep yourself and your partnership strong. Hope you will have a look at my piece of Disengaging. What are the benefits of doing less in your remarriage with children? Is disengaging for you?


Rescheduled: Workshop for Stepmothers and Repartnered Couples with Children/Adult Children

Published by Wednesday Martin
Come learn the issues--and how to deal with them--with others who have been there!
Come learn the issues--and how to deal with them--with others who have been there!

Save the date — I will be co-conducting a workshop with Dr. Rachelle Katz (author of The Happy Stepmother) on Saturday April 21 at the Open Center of New York City. Women with stepchildren of any age and their partners are welcome. So are therapists and other professionals who work with repartnered couples with children, or want to learn more about stepfamily dynamics and the issues remarrieds with children of any age face.


Stepmom Magazine's January Issue is Here...

Published by Wednesday Martin
Read all about it--a publication by, for and about women with stepkids!
Read all about it--a publication by, for and about women with stepkids!

Happy New Year, and happy 3rd birthday to Stepmom Magazine. The January issue has more of what you count on it for...sound advice, reassurance, and insight from stepparenting experts and authors like Mary Kelly-Williams, Susan Wisdom, Jenna Korf and Heather Hetchler, to name a few. Check it out...including my piece, "Pulling the Plug on Perfect," about how letting go of our fixation on happy endings and blended families frees us up to enjoy our lives and our relationships as never before.


October Issue of StepMom Magazine

Published by Wednesday Martin
Lots of great articles on topics that matter to YOU
Lots of great articles on topics that matter to YOU

The October issue of StepMom Magazine is live! In it you will find articles by experts and women with stepchildren who walk the walk. You will find great advice and insight in these pages. This month I write about women with stepchildren and negativity. What is your best "fix" when you find yourself in a negativity spiral? Tell me about it.


Childless and Child Free Women with Stepchildren — What are the Issues? And Kim Cottrell asks, "Which term shall we use?"

Published by Wednesday Martin
Have a listen, post a comment
Have a listen, post a comment

Here's a link to a radio interview I recently did with stepfamily therapist Mary Kelly-Williams, M.A. of marriedwithbaggage.com on her Blog Talk Radio show. We discussed childless and childfree women with stepchildren, their particular issues and challenges. Hope you will have a listen! Separately, blogger Kim Cottrell wonders "What to call us? Childfree sounds egocentric, childless sounds deprived." What do you think? Do we need a new term?


Stepmothers in History and Prehistory...In Stepmom Magazine

Published by Wednesday Martin
Plus, she probably had stepkids
Plus, she probably had stepkids

The September issues of StepMom Magazine has posted! In it you will find all kinds of informative and helpful articles by stepmothers and stepparenting experts who walk the walk. Mary Kelly Williams on the importance of the couple bond. Heather Hetchler on loyalty binds. Susan Swanson on why women with stepkids need social support — and good girlfriends. And Susan Wisdom in stepparenting teens. And much much more. I do recommend you subscribe today because knowledge is power, and can make this gig a lot less insanity-inducing!