We all want to think (and hope) that once we have found our king or queen, happily ever after and a blissful family will automatically follow. But if you have ever experienced heartbreak and divorce you know the reality is that happy families (and healthy relationships) don’t just happen because we fall in love. They […]
Respect is considered a critical element in any successful relationship. It also goes a long way towards developing a harmonious home. Certainly within stepfamilies the word “respect” is regularly used – you know that old chestnut “you don’t have to love or even like your mum’s/dad’s partner but you do need to be polite and show […]
Now we all have different needs for space, physical and emotional. As we go about our daily life, different spaces (and states) help us to carry out the task in hand or to recover from them. Emotional spaces can be influenced by the physical spaces we inhabit and vice versa. Our needs for these spaces […]
There is no guide on how to stepparent. No ‘What to Expect When You’re Expecting’ stepparent-style best seller. There’s no wise proverbs, ‘old wives tales’ or oral stories passed down from generation to generation to provide guidance and support to new stepparents about to embark on their stepparenting journey. Soon-to-be stepparents do not get baby […]
Here in Australia and New Zealand the first Sunday in September is Father’s Day and a time to celebrate father’s in all shapes and sizes. So we thought it a good opportunity to focus on stepdads – on those men who, through the simple act of falling in love with a single mum, become a […]
As people who are ex-partners and step-parents, it’s essential to learn how to manage conflict in a healthy way. Meeting anger with hostility (or vice versa) only continues to destroy trust and is also not a good example to set to the children about effective communication, how to manage big emotions or to resolve conflict. […]
It is widely accepted that social support and connections have a positive influence on human beings’ physical, spiritual and mental health. At the heart of it, we are social beings and people need people. In fact, we thrive amidst healthy relationships. Relationships of all kinds provide us with a sense of belonging, shared experience, socialization, […]
‘Mutually co-operative parenting’ and ‘shared parenting’ are terms typically used when talking about the gold star type of parenting for separated parents. It implies parents that are able to work together for the sake of their children. That, with the assistance of with time, distance (and maybe even therapy), parents have been able to move […]
Prior to separation, when parents lived together in the one home, they each had a role in monitoring and guiding their children’s schooling, essential to academic success. This does not change just because they are now separated and living in different households. It certainly makes it harder. Especially, when there are tons of things about […]
One of the most difficult challenges as a stepparent can be knowing when to step up and when to step back. There’s been many times during my stepmothering career that I’ve felt like I was doing the ‘Cha-Cha’ – two steps forward two steps back – at the wrong time and to the wrong music. […]