(6)Attempts to guide readers towards forming the remarried family, considering such issues as former spouses, new grandparents, and legal issues involving custody, visitation, adoption and financial arrangements.
For close to forty years, I was single with no kids. One day, the most wonderful woman came into my life. I married her and had an instant family of three wonderful kids. …it’s not been easy…not at all. From being foot loose and fancy free to being a Step-dad was quite a change. It’s been a rocky, uphill battle at times, full of fear, frustration, anger and success. This body of work is uncensored and raw in some spots. I make no apologies my feelings or the words I used to describe my experiences. I would rather be honest in my accounts because there are millions of Step-dads out there that most likely feel the same way.
(5)A realistic and forthright resource, this practical guide for parents of blended families helps adults understand their children's feelings and cope with arising difficulties.
(3)What determines whether stepfamilies remain together? What helps stepfamilies overcomes the difficulties of remarriage and become mutually supportive family units? How can mental health professionals better support this development? This book brings both clarity and depth to the unique and complex dynamics of remarried families. Patricia Papernow draws on interviews with over 100 stepfamily members, up-to-date research, a solid theoretical framework, and an empathic clinical sensibility to present an insightful model of stepfamily development, the Stepfamily Cycle. This details account of the sages of forming a lasting, cohesive group is richly illustrated by stepfamily members' own stories.
Becoming a Stepfamily describes the developmental challenges involved in building nourishing, reliable relationships between stepparents and stepchildren, in the newly married couple, and between different family groups who must learn to live together in a remarried family. Papernow discusses the factors that influence the pace and ease of development, and she provides four full length case studies illustrating the varied paths through the stepfamily cycle to the successful remarried life. The author offers therapists, clergy, school personnel, and others involved with stepfamilies a range of effective interventions, including preventive, educational, and clinical approaches. She provides practical guidance for helping family members deal constructively with the differing attachments of children to their biological parents and stepparents, assisting stepparents as they cope with feeling excluded from the powerful biological parent-child bond, and guiding biological parents torn between their spouse's need for intimacy and privacy and their children's needs for support and attention.
(4)Congratulations! You have just been named a winner in the Stepparent Olympics. Some of the events in this competition include the Javelin (dodging pointed barbs tossed by resentful stepchildren), Gymnastics (twisting yourself into incredible contortions trying to stay out of the middle between your spouse and your children), and the Balance Beam Juggling event (trying to prove to your spouse, your kids, your stepkids, your ex-spouse, and your spouse's ex-spouse that you can do everything perfectly).
You've worked hard, put your heart and soul into the competition, and won your event. You step onto the platform, smiling through triumphant tears. And around your neck is placed—a silver medal.
In the Stepparent Olympics, you see, there is no such thing as going for the gold. Second place is as good as it's ever going to get.
This book shows you how to make the most of that second place. It offers practical suggestions for solving common stepfamily problems, from dealing with jealousy to talking about money.
Making the Best of Second Best also encourages you to appreciate the positives and see stepparenting as an experience to enjoy and grow from, not merely endure. Kathleen Fox draws from her own experience as a stepmother to share mistakes, insights, and suggestions in a humorous, personal style. This is a readable and supportive guide to building a happy blended family.
(25)A guide for adoptive parents from preparations for a child's arrival through the teen years.
Step parenting is not an easy task. But it can be a great opportunity for you to make a difference in the life of the child (or children) of your spouse. By demonstrating love towards your spouse’s child (or children), you will also be expressing your love towards your spouse.
In this eBook, which you can finish reading in less than 15 minutes, you will learn some highly powerful principles and strategies that can help you to turn your experience of step parenting into a masterpiece of love and legacy.
(27)The stepmother's role often is ambiguous and underappreciated, and frequently it carries unrealistic expectations. The book answers women's concerns and questions, including: How can I be a caretaker and a key emotional connector in the family if the children don't accept my influence? How shoud I cope with children who are confused about their family and torn between loyalty to their biological mother and me? When should I step back in conflicts and when should I insist that my husband stand up for me? In addition it addresses the spiritual and emotional climate of the home, providing perspective and guidelines to help stepmothers and their families thrive.
(37)Becoming a stepmother is a life-altering event in any woman's life. The issues are extraordinarily complex and women are overwhelmingly unprepared. Yet concerns usually focus on the effect remarriage has on the children. The Enlightened Stepmother approaches the subject from a totally new perspective -- that of the stepmother. Based on information -- sometimes controversial -- from stepmoms of all ages, occupations and lifestyles, who know from experience what works, what doesn't and why --
(6)How To Screw Up Your Kids: Blended Families, Blendered Style Award-Winner in the 'Parenting/Family: Divorce' category of The 2012 USA Best Book Awards Winner, 2012 Houston Writers Guild Narrative Nonfiction Manuscript Contest. Married couples with children divorce 40% of the time. In less than three years after that divorce, chances are both mom and dad are remarried, and probably each to someone who has kids of their own. The single most explosive and divisive issue in those marriages? Stepparenting. Wouldn't it be nice if we all lived in a bubble gum and sugar plum world where, without a ripple on Lake Placid, kids embraced stepparents and appreciated their contributions? Where stepsiblings didn't compete for attention and argue over favorites and fairness? Well, we don't. So what we need when stepparenting is a good plan. A plan for blending, or blendering if you will, the disparate stepchildren and their parents into a chunky smoothie of stepfamily goodness. How To Screw Up Your Kids helps the parents everyone predicts will fail prove all the naysayers wrong. Through the use of practical human relations principles and the author's achingly honest and often hilarious stories, readers will learn to envision and instill a unique set of family values and culture into their new household, and by God, have fun doing it.
