Valentines Day is a symbolic reminder of taking care of your relationship. What does that mean? Romance often takes a back seat to demands of family life such as children’s schedules, schooling, doctor’s appointments and so on. But every couple needs time alone and time to reacquaint. The home “fires” must keep burning!
Many men find themselves spending much more time with their stepchildren than with their biological children, simply because of their custody agreements. Fathers see their biological children’s stay with them as visits, rather than “living with them,” so they treat them like VIP guests and set fewer limits and looser behavioral expectations.
These double standards drive a wedge between the couple, confuse the children, and foster resentment all around. Here’s how to handle them.
Another year went by. You may feel the anguish of yet more missed opportunities to last year’s resolutions for a more peaceful and fun stepfamily experience. If you do, you are not alone. Many step-families share your pain. You can make a difference in this coming year. Implement these 6 easy tips and you’ll experience a difference in how you connect with your step-family.
Remarriage can be the best time of your life. You have to wonder whether the bliss can last in the face of intrusive exes, stepchildren acting-out, and a confused spouse. You probably had a sketchy vision of what your marriage would look like, only to find out that the reality of simultaneously starting a marriage and forming a stepfamily is much more complex than you ever imagined.
The glue that binds the family together is the couple, without which there naturally wouldn’t be a family. A healthy, close, loving couple relationship determines the wellness and success of not only the marriage, but of the whole family. The following 5 tips will help you plan, develop, and implement a blue print for an even deeper connection with your spouse.
Developing an attitude of gratitude improves your quality of life because it helps you appreciate the positive things and people in your life. Gratitude also helps you see the opportunities in the challenges you face.
While at times you may face complex challenges in your stepfamily, be grateful for having your spouse and family. Expressing your appreciation to them for being in your life will bring you closer together.
Gratitude helps us be humble and appreciative of the gifts of love, friendship, and faith that we are given. It helps us acknowledge someone else’s contribution to the quality of our lives.
“I am at my wits end. I didn’t know that being a stepmother is going to be so frustrating!” said a 39 year-old, successful, professional woman. “At work, everyone respects me and likes me, but at home I feel like an obstacle to my stepchildren in their relationship with their father.” If you can relate to this stepmother’s frustration, you may have asked yourself many times over why your stepchildren can’t just see you for who you really are: a nice, loving woman who wants peace and love in her home. You may also wonder what you need to do in order to get noticed and cherished by your husband. Perhaps you wonder if you can ever succeed in this unclear role.
The following tips will hopefully help you turn a corner with your stepchildren and your husband, so you walk the path to desired harmony in your home.
Children of divorced parents who go back and forth between two households experience a sense of loss and anxiety each
Setting priorities for improving the joint quality of life you desire is a major component of creating and maintaining meaningful
How can it be that in the 21st century some people still view stepmothers as wicked, stepchildren as their victims,
