STEPMOM

It can be really tough to become a stepchild.  The stepchildren don’t have the chance to pick their step-parent, and sometimes they wouldn’t pick the one they got!  Your mom or dad fell in love, and all of a sudden your life turns upside down and you have a stepparent!

Here are some feelings the stepchildren often have; do you recognize these?

You feel you’ve lost the special bond with your mom/dad since they’ve become loyal to your step-parent.

You don’t feel your stepmom or stepdad understands you (or doesn’t like you, or wants to make it hard on you).

You feel like your new stepparent gets all the special time with your mom/dad, and you can’t get to them as you used to.

You don’t know what is expected of you in the home now – things are different.

You feel like a stranger has taken over your home.

The rules have changed because the new stepmom/stepdad has influenced your parent.

You constantly compare your new stepparent to your other parent, and the step-parent is just not as good.

OR your other parent says bad things about your step-parent, and you feel stuck in the middle.

You’re angry about all the changes.

You suddenly have a new stepbrother or stepsister and it’s not going well.

These are NORMAL reactions for the stepchildren to go through.  You are not alone, and there’s nothing wrong with you!  Too often, the parents and stepparents are not paying enough attention to the stepchildren’s feelings.  You probably want things to work out in the end, and want everyone to be happy.  But it’s hard to just go along with all the changes, especially if nobody’s listening to you.

The stepchildren need to know that the parents are going through a lot too!  BUT if they can learn more about how to make things work for themselves and for the stepchildren, everyone in the stepfamily can be happier!

Tell them about this 6-week course, Creating A Successful Stepfamily.