In our first year of marriage, my stepdaughter turned 13 and was in 7th grade. To be honest, that was a good year. The following year, however — 8th grade — now, that was hard! I saw a lot of eye rolling that year. And there was a lot of Read more…
Early on, I convinced myself my stepkids would end up spoiled from all the gifts they were receiving. They had double the parents, so that meant there were *four* generous sets of grandparents to indulge them with gifts, plus lots of extra aunts and uncles on all sides! On a Read more…
I had always possessed a maternal desire and had hoped for a big family. But when the day came to announce my first pregnancy, I wasn’t prepared to have to hide my joy like I was doing something wrong. Like many stepmoms, I loved my new stepkids, but I longed for a Read more…
“Get some rest and enjoy being alone for the afternoon.” Those were the words my husband suggested to me on that Sunday afternoon. It was transition day and my husband’s ex-wife had just pulled into the driveway to drop off my stepkids for a week. “I’ll bring the kids with Read more…
It was my first day in my new role as insta-mom: the morning after our wedding. We checked out of the hotel, where the night before we had celebrated with family and friends. Packing ourselves and all the wedding gifts into the car, we started off on our drive to Read more…
I called my mom to let her know just how frustrated I was. How could my new husband let his kids get away with the things he did? Allowing ice cream before lunch? Leaving dirty dishes out? TV before school? Forgetting to brush teeth in the morning? And bad attitudes Read more…
Before I met her, I had a mission. I wanted to love her, shield her from pre-teen girl hurts, and teach her about healthy relationships with friends, boys and God. I wanted to take her shopping and braid her hair. Her Daddy said she needed me. And I was ready Read more…