Stepfamily Development
When I was six or seven, I had two pet names for my father – Naa and Ego. Although I don’t remember their origin, I suppose I was following suit from seeing the diminutives my parents used for each other on Christmas gift tags and Valentine’s Day cards. (P.B. and E.S., which stood for something […]
I am so thrilled today to share with you that my audio preview is live and ready for your prime time listenership! This is the first dedicated resource I know of for stepparents coming into a family where a parent has died. In today’s post I also inform you about a few other stepparenting and family resources. For […]
I do encourage comments and friendly debate on this blog, but I have to admit I was surprised to receive a comment this summer from a reader nicknamed Daisy: “I came here for comfort, and instead find an outrageous display of selfishness.” Daisy, who is herself grieving the loss of her adult son, felt that […]
Because my 21-year-old stepson has moved back in with us for a while, I thought this was a good time to re-visit the topic of zigzag evolution. This was the child who moved out of the house before his senior year of high school, which was a huge zigzag at that time. His moving back […]
This is the third in a Wednesday post series about the role of the parent in stepfamilies. Stepfamilies might feel more cohesive if the parent is able to: Be the central hub of the stepfamily. Be the main disciplinarian in the stepfamily. Be physically available (present). Be emotionally available (interested). Today we’re looking at how […]
I think I picked up this term, zigzag evolution, from Patricia Papernow’s foundational book, Becoming a Stepfamily. The meat of this concept is that stepfamilies do not evolve in a straight, predictable, line. Rather, they zigzag, more along the lines of the one-step- forward, two-steps-back analogy. While it’s true that all families zigzag to some […]