As part of our Blended Family Friday series, each week we're spotlighting a different stepfamily to learn how they successfully blended their two fami...
There are few guidelines for stepmothers and stepfathers about how to understand child development or to parent effectively, instantly. They jump into middle of a kid's development and try to make sense of it. Usually with little support.
Sasha the Diva's family is in turmoil. The popular radio personality has been married to her husband, Kevin, for two years, making Kevin the stepfathe...
Here is what my ex's wife does for my children: she loves them.
What's the secret to being a good stepdad? A new study out of Brigham Young’s School of Social Work delves into what stepchildren say contribute...
Every stepparent remembers the moment they finally earned their stepkids' seal of approval. It's a meaningful moment -- as any stepparent can tell you...
When you marry someone with kids, it's understandable to want to win over your new stepkids quickly. But the road to a stable relationship with your s...
It's a rare stepparent who hasn't tried, in their own way, to win over their stepkids. Whether it was snapping up two Justin Bieber concert tickets or...
When you fell in love with your husband, I am sure you had great hopes of creating a happy family that included both of your children, but as you are discovering, blending a family is often easier said than done.
By Alisa Jaffe Holleron for YourTango.com My ex-husband and his new wife picked up the kids recently to take them on a two-week road trip. My so...
"Don't let your life be all about men the way mine has been," my mom said on the long distance line as I sobbed about my latest tortured love affair circa 1991.
Four and a half months after his sudden deployment, Jeff was sent home. The girls and I made T-shirts with catchy slogans: Welcome Home Baghdaddy; Glad You're Back from Iraq.
There was one aspect of my life that never changed, even when my family's structure did: My relationship with my mom. In fact, in many ways, my parents' divorce only made our bond stronger.
It's stepparents -- the very people who don't actually have an official day -- who could, well, kind of use one.
Did you know that there is no delineation for a stepparent on Facebook?
Mom was in her late 30s when I was born. In the suburbs of the 50s, that could have gone down in Ripley's Believe it or Not, but, it was dealt with directly -- she lied about her age.
Our definition of family is no longer a neatly wrapped package of two adults and two children with a dog and, perhaps, a hamster. Nope, my family definition is messy.
Ironically, our children are often more realistic about the challenges facing the remarriage than we are.
What message does the word "stepmother" convey more clearly than "You're NOT a mother"? And why does a father's new wife need to be contextualized in relation to the mother at all? It declares a winner... as if society doesn't already halo moms over non-moms enough.
Stepparents have bad reputations. Just ask Cinderella and Snow White. But from my arguably unenviable position of stepmother, I'd like to talk about the better side of stepfamilies.
The worst thing you can do when you tell your grown kids about your divorce is to expect them not to feel strong emotions, not to feel grief and pain ...
I wouldn't say that I'd been cocky about my aging parents -- I knew at some point they would pass. But for a long time, as I watched my friends strugg...
The greatest challenge to a second marriage is not usually direct conflict with the stepchildren, but rather, conflict over the parenting of the stepchildren, especially if the new husband suffers from Guilty Father Syndrome.
Dear AdviceMama, My stepdaughter recently moved in with her mom because she disrespected everyone here, especially her dad. She hits him, curses at h...
On last week's episode of ABC hit "Modern Family," Jay (played by Ed O'Neill) has a tender moment with his step-son, Manny (Rico Rodriguez). Manny an...
