Stepparenting requires a lot of sacrifices — many of which are significant; most of which we had no idea we’d have to make. So grief is part of stepparenting too, although I don’t think any of us realize that going in.

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A pep talk for stepparents who struggle to feel like they’re making any kinda difference in their blended families.

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You can’t co-parent with someone who won’t compromise. Put that energy toward blending your family instead.

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Today I'm sharing some of the (many) misconceptions I had to stumble over as I slowwwwly shifted from a single parent perspective to a stepfamily mindset.

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HELPFUL RESOURCES FOR PARTNERS:

Stepcouplehood needs to be a partnership

The 3 stages of blending your family

How to Actually Blend: The Missing Instruction Manual for Stepcouples

6 things stepparents wish their partners knew

Why your relationship (NOT the kids) should come first in a stepfamily

Stepparents & disciplining stepkids

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If you’re ready to shift out of reactive mode as a stepparent and recover your center, disengaging could be the first step in rediscovering what you want and need.

GRAB YOUR FREE STEMOMCON25 TICKET! >>

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The more you know about the complexities of stepfam life, the more you’re setting yourself up for success. And, by extension, the rest of your blended family too.

GRAB YOUR FREE TICKET TO STEPMOMCON 2025! >>

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Stepparenting compassion fatigue is what happens when your heart can literally no longer feel empathy because you’ve been so overexposed to never-ending stepfamily problems.

If that's you, go grab my guide: 17 coping tips for managing overwhelming emotions and please know YOU ARE NOT ALONE. xo

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Happy Stepfamily Day (Sep 16th) to all the incredible blended families out there that look nothing like the Brady Bunch.

The Brady Bunch laid the groundwork for decades of unrealistic expectations about blended families. The real journey toward blended is so much more intimidating. Which doesn't mean we're failing at becoming a family; it’s just that our preconceptions about what "blended" really means are misinformed.

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You do not need to be perfect to be a good stepparent. You’re certainly not responsible for living up to someone else’s unrealistic stepparenting expectations. Or your own unrealistic expectations!

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If you need help wrapping your brain around the idea of of disengaging in a positive way, I wrote a whole ebook to help with that: ➡️ Not Your Circus, Not Your Monkeys: The Frustrated Stepparent's Guide to Reclaiming Personal Peace. It includes advice and a step-by-step how-to along with my personal stories about disengaging, plus a bunch of different “how I disengaged” examples from other stepparents.

This ebook is included as a perk for our paid subscribers on Substack, but you can also buy it as a standalone right here.

Read the full episode transcript on Substack >>

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