In case you haven't ever checked out her blog, you should read a bit of stepmama metamorphoses by Dragonfly Mama. She's a stepmom AND a mom. Talk about a cool perspective! Next week, Monday to be exact, she will be HERE, AT THIS VERY BLOG, to contribute some good chewy morsels of wisdom to savor! That's this coming MONDAY, JUNE 15!! I'm guest posting at her blog on Wednesday, the 17th.
I don't have any stepchildren, but I live in a stepfamily insomuch as my husband and my daughter are stepparent-stepchild. Also, my daughter has a stepmother and two other siblings in that stepfamily. So step-relations are very relevant to me to be sensitive to and understand. I read a lot of blogs written by stepmothers and remarried moms. Also, many of them stop by here (thanks, all of you!). What I'm realizing is that the world of family and parenting is filled with many stories unlike Ward and June Cleaver's life. It's more like the Brady Bunch without the groovy outfits and a loving Alice to help out. Oh, and one more difference -- the real world would be more like the Brady Bunch in which the boys' biomom and the girls' biodad come around once and awhile.
Things are not easy when you've got two households sharing a kid. I think we'd all like to pretend like the Brady Bunch story can occur, but anyone who's gone through building a stepfamily knows that the Brady Bunch version of stepfamily is really nothing more than idealized fiction, kind of like Trixie Belden or Hannah Montana. The parents at two different households have lots of potential for friction and conflict, and thus the overwhelming number of blogs out there dedicated to venting on the topic!
For more than a year now, Dragonfly Mama and I have been emailing back and forth and talking about the differences and similarities between being a biomom and a stepmom. From my side, I have learned a lot. It helps that our two situations aren't entirely different either -- her stepdaughter is a tween and her son is a growing three year old, not unlike Grace's experience. We also both live closeby to the other stepfamily in the picture, something that can be a blessing and a curse.
After much heartfelt discourse, we decided that it would fun (and helpful!) to guest post at each other's blogs. We could each give space to another voice, one that comes from the other side of the picture. By doing so, hopefully we could both glean some morsel of wisdom from that voice. I'll be guest posting at stepmama metamorphoses next Wednesday. But first, tune in here on Monday, June 15th for...
Dragonfly Mama!
1 comments:
Hey wait a minute, who says we don't have groovy outfits!!!
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