This post is continued from Part One

While it can be easy for parents to become frustrated, especially when they feel as though they are doing everything right, yet the child still seems to be resistant, it is important to remember that they are not resistant because they do not like, or even love, their new

Emotional walls can go up in an instant but can take months or even years to tear down

parent, they are... more

Fear of rejection can cause both adoptive stepparents, as well as adopted stepchildren to put up emotional walls

Earlier, I wrote a post entitled Fake it Till You Make it, which was about adoptive stepparents essentially faking the bond with their adopted stepchildren until they actually feel one. While this has worked for many adoptive stepfamilies, there have been cases in which the adoptive stepparent gives up all to early on forming... more

I always enjoy Friday. With the week behind us, and the anticipation of the weekend with everyone being at home, it just always makes me look forward to a Friday afternoon. I always take time to sit and think about the week, what was accomplished, as well as to what was left undone. Most of the time I am satisfied with what has been completed, but I suppose that there is always room for improvement, and always more that we wish we would have gotten done!

This Friday was a great one for me. Not only was my husband working from home... more

Often times, adoptive stepparents can become distressed, especially after having their first biological child that they do not love, or have as deep of a bond with their adopted stepchild as they should. The advice which is given out the most, is to fake it till you make it, otherwise meaning that the adoptive parent should go through the motions and pretend as though the bond is there, until they actually... more

What makes you feel more like a mother, or parent, than getting bragging rights to a child whom you love? Nothing seems to feel better than getting to sing to the world how wonderful, beautiful, or smart your child is. Recently I was afforded the opportunity to claim bragging rights. My adopted stepson has had exams all this past week. He dressed himself nicely the entire week, because he was ‘dressing for success’ in his words. Perhaps the clothes helped, or it could be that he is simply that smart, but he aced all of his tests, even receiving a one hundred percent... more

It seems as though our household is simply full of stress these days. School reports and projects, getting the budget in order, commuting, working, cleaning, everything just simply seems to be piling up, and I think I may explode at this point! I want to just hide under my beloved blanket and wait for the day to be over at this point, but alas that is just not an option!

When things get this stressful, to the point where I just don’t have the energy or desire to deal with life, I am often reminded of my adopted stepson, and the period... more

This is a term that is tossed around quite a bit in the stepparent community, it refers to when a stepparent decides to back away from his or her stepchild, letting the biological parent take care of all of the child’s needs, leaving the stepparent and child as people whom simply reside in the same home, and not much more.

This is often done after a family has been in crisis for some time. The stepparent begins to feel helpless and overwhelmed, feeling as though he or she is being stuck to deal with a child on his or her own, whom... more

And the Dallas Cowboys win, 34-6, with a score like that, how could today possibly be a bad day? While life in general has continued to dump on our family left and right, in any and every way imaginable, we have handled it well, pulling together and drawing on the strength of each other, as well as leaning on each other and doing our best to pick up the slack when one member of the family is in need of some hiding from the world.

It has been wonderful to see everyone pull together as one unit, as well as actually function as one unit.... more

Kids are always looking for something new to do, and being a helper is usually somewhere very close to number one on the list. Children love the opportunity to dive into what are usually deemed as ‘adult tasks.’ Thriving in feeling more responsible and grown up, children love the chance to prove that they are big enough to help again, and try to be on their best when excited behavior.

Many families take care of chores and errands on the weekends, either going out as a family, or just mom or dad running out alone. While it is always... more

Try cutting down on electronics. While most parents try to limit the amount of television, and video games that their children take in daily, with so much of today’s world revolving around electronics, it can be hard to keep the kids entertained for any length of time without them.

An option that many families do not even think of is to simply cut down on the number of electronics in the household. If every member of the family has their own everything, than no one learns to share, or has to interact with anyone else in the home.... more