Tag Archives: conflict
Meditations on conflict
A recent peek into my blog stats showed up this search string: “killer care bear” And this: “vicious care bear” And my favourite: “care bears with guns” As a mediator, I know that a “care bear” conflict style (often called … Continue reading
Filed under Communication, Family, Linkety-Link, Resources, Stepfamily Life, The Search String Diaries
Do you ever think your partner is Mr Wrong?
Sorry – random, I know. Yes, and maybe even a tiny bit sexist. Not at all fair comment on the Lovely Man, either. Anyway, Lori Lowe’s fabulous article We All Married the Wrong Person on her blog Marriage Gems is hugely … Continue reading
Filed under Remarriage, Self-Care Challenge, Stepfamily Life
Storm’s coming
You know how maestro piano players are sometimes described as playing a piece of music “stormily”? The Lovely Man is in the study at the moment, and I can tell he is writing his email response to the Boys’ Mum’s … Continue reading
Filed under Communication, Lovely Man, Stepfamily Life, The Ex
Deesha Philyaw, crazy schedules and humble pie
I have an assignment due. (Because my MacBook is actually magic, I can hear what you’re thinking right now – yes, I am procrastinating.) So rather than do the responsible student thing and not post at all, here are a … Continue reading
Filed under About Us, Communication, Linkety-Link, Stepfamily Life
Stepmother mantras
Reading this post from stepmama metamorphoses (who has been so inspiring as she works through the process of stepping back from her husband’s ex’s dramas) as well as Sherri’s weekly affirmations at Too Many Toasters, I got thinking about the … Continue reading
Filed under Communication, Counselling, Family, Kids, Me, Stepfamily Life
Making rules…
…but for pity’s sake don’t even think of calling them “family rules”! I can almost hear the reaction now, echoed back from eleventy million step households: “You’re not my family and you don’t make rules for me!” [Sarcasm switches off] … Continue reading
Filed under Communication, Counselling, Kids, Lovely Man, Me, Stepfamily Life
And… another search string
Found in my blog stats today, in the section showing what search phrases lead poor hapless victims readers here was this sad snippet of stepmother misery: “my husband is teaching his kids to treat stepmom as a doormat” I would … Continue reading
Filed under Communication, Kids, Lovely Man, Stepfamily Life
Bookalicious
Oh my, but there’s a motherload of stepfamily books heading my way. Nurse, it’s time for my shot of Vitamin Step Literature. This order is so bitchingly huge that Amazon has comped me express shipping on many of the individual … Continue reading
Filed under Me, Stepfamily Life, Writing
The Unnegotiables
Boy A once described something as “unnegotiable” – I’ve never forgotten the clumsy word. A brilliant post from Urban Stepmom got me thinking about what is “unnegotiable” for me. In the past, I’ve tended to put up and shut up a … Continue reading
Filed under Communication, Kids, Stepfamily Life
The Onslaught
By last October, Christmas 2009 was shaping up to be fairly horrific. In the end, it was and it wasn’t, I suppose. Like most adventures in stepfamily life, there were good as well as bad bits; in fact the good … Continue reading
Filed under Christmas, Communication, Counselling, Kids, Lovely Man, Me, Stepfamily Life, The Ex
