by Gayla Grace | Oct 14, 2014 | Blog, loyalty conflict, stepfamily marriage, stepmother role
My husband and I celebrate 19 years of marriage today. All four of the kids in our wedding picture are grown – we have only an “ours” child still at home – 13-year-old son Nathan. I love the way my friend Heather Hetchler counts years in...
by Gayla | Feb 19, 2013 | attitude, Blog, boundaries, co-parenting, conflict, loyalty conflict, successful stepparenting
I’m addressing a question today I received from a reader. How do you cope as a stepmom when you’re dealing with a biological mom who is belittling to you and doesn’t want you in her children’s lives? The stepmom role becomes harder when the bio...
by Gayla | May 23, 2012 | acceptance, Blog, loyalty conflict, stepfamily relationships, successful stepparenting
In working with stepparents recently, I’ve noticed a common thread that spells disaster in the early years of stepfamily development: the tendency for the stepparent to play a strong disciplinary role instead of allowing the biological parent to be the primary...
by Gayla | May 9, 2012 | Blog, loyalty conflict, peace, stepmother role, take care of yourself
One of the hardest hurdles to cope with as a stepparent is the reality that we make the same sacrifices as a biological parent but reap very few rewards for our efforts. In his book, The Smart Stepfamily, Ron Deal gives three reasons why the stepmother role is even...
by Gayla | Apr 5, 2012 | Blog, feelings, loyalty conflict, stepfamily relationships
“So how do you tell the world you have lost your baby and they have lost her too. Stella is gone from here and suffers no more. She left us around noon and we are thankful for her peace. We are exhausted with grief, which is the best description I can give of...
by Gayla | May 3, 2011 | Blog, loyalty conflict, Rejection, stepmother role, take care of yourself
With Mother’s Day only a few days away, you may be thinking about how your stepchildren will handle the celebration. It tends to be an awkward holiday for many stepmothers, including myself at times. We don’t know whether to expect anything from our...
by Gayla | Mar 24, 2011 | Blog, feelings, loyalty conflict, stepfamily relationships
“Mom, listen to this text,” my 18-year-old daughter, Jodi, said early yesterday morning. “My friend, Jacob Mulberry was killed in a tragic accident last night. His brother, Keith is seriously injured. There were two others in the truck – not...
by Gayla | Jan 20, 2010 | Blog, loyalty conflict
Loyalty conflict is a foreign term to a nuclear family. But for stepfamilies, it can be an unfortunate reality, resulting in crippling emotions for stepchildren and unseen barriers toward relationship building with stepparents.Loyalty conflict occurs when a stepchild...
