I had written a few posts on the dangers, as well as the damage caused by adoptive stepparents not trying to bond with their adoptive stepchildren, or giving up too soon on establishing a bond with them. There were many times in my own situation where I was so fed up, heartbroken, and too tired to want to continue trying to form a closer bond with my adopted stepson.

If I had a nickel for every time I called my mom either in tears of grief, or frustration, exclaiming, “I give up, I just can’t do this anymore…” well then, I wouldn’t have to write... more

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

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