Sometimes as a stepmom, you're damned if you do, and damned if you don't. And a big reason for that, is because of the double standard between moms and stepmoms. There is an underlying—often misguided—prejudice in our society that stepmoms are less than "real" moms, and today, we're going to break this double standard wide open.

Stepmoms are not less than "real" moms, or anyone else. This is an archaic notion, and it's time for us to rewrite the narrative!

Ready to create a stepmom life you love? Grab my FREE GUIDE 15 Ways to Become a Happier Stepmom Overnight: https://stepmomming.com/happier

Let’s work together: https://stepmomming.com/quick-links/

Join our FREE support group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/stepmommingainteasy

Here's something I wish I learned a lot sooner...

I have control over my stepmom life.

And once I found it, everything changed.

I want to help you find it, too! Our signature program helping stepmoms claim control is BACK for a limited time!

Join Control Freak Collective now: https://stepmomming.thrivecart.com/control-freak-collective-april-24/.

When I first became a stepmom, I felt like everyone else (my partner, my stepdaughter, and my partner’s ex-wife) had more control over my life than I did, and it drove me WILD. Today, I’m happy to report, I have firmly taken back control and am happier than ever, and I want the same for you, stepmom. So, here are 3 very tangible ways to take back control as a stepmom!

Links Mentioned:

Listen to EP 28: Why I Think “Keep the Peace” is Shitty Advice: https://stepmomming.com/ep-28-why-i-think-keep-the-peace-is-shitty-advice/

Join Control Freak Collective: https://stepmomming.thrivecart.com/control-freak-collective-april-24/

Ready to start setting boundaries, stepmom? Grab my FREE GUIDE Basics of a Boundary: https://stepmomming.com/boundaries-basics-guide/

Let’s work together: https://stepmomming.com/quick-links/

Join our FREE support group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/stepmommingainteasy

Here's something I wish I learned a lot sooner...

I have control over my stepmom life.

And once I found it, everything changed.

I want to help you find it, too! Our signature program helping stepmoms claim control is BACK for a limited time!

Join Control Freak Collective now: https://stepmomming.thrivecart.com/control-freak-collective-april-24/.

Stepparenting is not hard because you're doing it wrong. Stepparenting is hard because it's an entirely different family structure and dynamic than we've experienced before. Today, I'm joined by arguably the foremost expert on stepfamily dynamics, Dr. Patricia Papernow, to discuss 5 challenges stepfamilies face. We're normalizing the challenges you struggle with and talking all about what works and what doesn't work!

Dr. Patricia Papernow is an internationally recognized expert on stepfamilies. She teaches all over the U.S. and the world about best practices for meeting stepfamily challenges integrating the now considerable research with her own four-plus decades of clinical work. She loves putting this good information into the hands of people in stepfamilies!

Patricia has written dozens of articles and book chapters and has authored the leading books in the field: Surviving and Thriving in Stepfamily Relationships: What Works and What Doesn’t, and, with Karen Bonnell, The Stepfamily Handbook: From Dating to Getting Serious to Forming a “Blended Family.”

She is the recipient of awards for Distinguished Contribution to Family Psychology from the American Psychological Association and the award for Distinguished Contribution to Family Therapy Theory and Practice from the American Family Therapy Academy.

Links Mentioned:

stepfamilyrelationships.com

Surviving and Thriving in Stepfamily Relationships: What Works and What Doesn’t Book (affiliate): https://amzn.to/3PLSuYk

The Stepfamily Handbook: From Dating to Getting Serious to Forming a “Blended Family” Book (affiliate): https://amzn.to/48IKC2y

Ready to create a stepmom life you love? Grab my FREE GUIDE 15 Ways to Become a Happier Stepmom Overnight: https://stepmomming.com/happier

Let’s work together: https://stepmomming.com/quick-links/

Join our FREE support group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/stepmommingainteasy

Here's something I wish I learned a lot sooner...

I have control over my stepmom life.

And once I found it, everything changed.

I want to help you find it, too! Our signature program helping stepmoms claim control is BACK for a limited time!

Join Control Freak Collective now: https://stepmomming.thrivecart.com/control-freak-collective-april-24/.

Transition Day can be SO challenging for stepmoms! Stepchildren often have a difficult time making the switch from one house to another, and act out in emotional ways. It makes stepmoms around the world dread transition day!

In today's episode, I'm sharing 3 tips to make transition day easier! Set yourself and your stepchildren up for success with these tips, and you'll find that transition day isn't one to dread anymore!

Ready to create a stepmom life you love? Grab my FREE GUIDE 15 Ways to Become a Happier Stepmom Overnight: https://stepmomming.com/happier

Let’s work together: https://stepmomming.com/quick-links/

Join our FREE support group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/stepmommingainteasy

Here's something I wish I learned a lot sooner...

I have control over my stepmom life.

And once I found it, everything changed.

I want to help you find it, too! Our signature program helping stepmoms claim control is BACK for a limited time!

Join Control Freak Collective now: https://stepmomming.thrivecart.com/control-freak-collective-april-24/.

One of the biggest, most challenging transitions that stepmoms can make is adding a baby to their blended family. Today, Kimberly King joins me to discuss her experience and best tips for stepmoms who are preparing to add an "ours baby" to the family! We're answering all of your burning questions, like:

1. How do you prepare your stepchildren for adding a baby to the family?
2. Do you need to tell the ex you're expecting?
3. Did your love for your stepchildren (or perception of that love) change after having a baby of your own?
4. Did you ever feel territorial over your baby?
5. When you had a baby of your own, how did your stepmom role shift?

It's a great discussion that will help you feel better prepared for the exciting next chapter in your family!

Kimberly King is a multifaceted entrepreneur and owner of Honestly Mum (www.honestlymum.com). She is bonus mum to 2 girls, and bio mum to 2 boys.

After meeting her husband in 2016, Kimberly dove right into the deep end of step motherhood without a life vest and it’s been a wild ride ever since. Just 5 years into our marriage, the family has moved quite a bit. They lived in the Caribbean for several years and now reside in her husbands home state of Pennsylvania.

As a biracial woman, raised in the inner city of Los Angeles, Kimberly, who is also a first generation American, specializes in Interracial + Intercultural stepfamilies, peeling back the layers of race and ethnicity. We work on identifying how these differences are helping or hurting your overall stepfamily dynamic and how to improve on your current situation. As a once expat herself, she is also well versed in overcoming struggles relating to relocation and all the hard parts of doing that with another new “ours baby” in tow. Her practice focuses on keeping marriage first and all facets of building confidence in your role as a stepparent.

When Kimberly isn’t working with stepfamilies, the stay at home mom moonlights as a chef creating beautiful home cooked dishes.

Links Mentioned:

https://www.instagram.com/kimberlykamish.king/

Ready to create a stepmom life you love? Grab my FREE GUIDE 15 Ways to Become a Happier Stepmom Overnight: https://stepmomming.com/happier

Let’s work together: https://stepmomming.com/quick-links/

Join our FREE support group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/stepmommingainteasy

Here's something I wish I learned a lot sooner...

I have control over my stepmom life.

And once I found it, everything changed.

I want to help you find it, too! Our signature program helping stepmoms claim control is BACK for a limited time!

Join Control Freak Collective now: https://stepmomming.thrivecart.com/control-freak-collective-april-24/.

So many stepmom clients I work with have tried therapy before coaching, and the advice they get from well-meaning therapists who aren't trained in blended families actually does more harm than good. Maybe you've heard this advice before too, or maybe you'll be just as shocked by some of it as I was. Regardless, I want you to know that you deserve a stepmom life you love.

This is a safe space for stepmoms. I want you to feel validated and comforted here.

Ready to create a stepmom life you love? Grab my FREE GUIDE 15 Ways to Become a Happier Stepmom Overnight: https://stepmomming.com/happier

Let’s work together: https://stepmomming.com/quick-links/

Join our FREE support group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/stepmommingainteasy

Here's something I wish I learned a lot sooner...

I have control over my stepmom life.

And once I found it, everything changed.

I want to help you find it, too! Our signature program helping stepmoms claim control is BACK for a limited time!

Join Control Freak Collective now: https://stepmomming.thrivecart.com/control-freak-collective-april-24/.

Stepmom, today we are chatting with fellow stepmom and co-founder of the High Conflict Institute, Megan Hunter! If your stepchild's other parent is high-conflict, then this is a discussion you can't afford to miss! We're chatting all about practical, tangible tools to use when dealing with someone high-conflict and answering your most burning questions like:

1. What traits define a high-conflict person?
2. What are best practices for communicating with a high-conflict co-parent?
3. Do you need to respond to every communication from a high-conflict co-parent?
4. What can we do when the co-parent is lying in court about us?
5. How can we de-escalate high-conflict situations?

It's an honor to have Megan on the podcast sharing her in-depth knowledge on this topic. I know you're going to walk away from this episode feeling validated and empowered with better tools!

Megan Hunter, MBA, is an expert on high conflict disputes. She is co-founder of the High Conflict Institute along with author and speaker, Bill Eddy, LCSW, Esq. who developed the high-conflict personality theory. Megan developed the concept of the Institute after 13 years in policy, legislation and judicial training with the Arizona Supreme Court and 5 years with the Dawes County Attorney’s Office in Nebraska. She is founder and publisher of Unhooked Books, a U.S.-based media company.

Megan has trained business, workplace, government, public service, legal, mental health, leadership groups, non-profits, universities and other professionals across much of the U.S. and 7 countries. Megan holds an MBA from the University of Phoenix and a Business and Economics degree from Chadron State College, Chadron, Nebraska. She has served as President of the Arizona Chapter of the Association of Family & Conciliation Courts, the Arizona Family Support Council and Nebraska Child Support Enforcement Association. She served 5 years on the Arizona Board of Psychologist Examiners, and currently serves on the board of Stepfamily Magazine.

Links Mentioned:

The High Conflict Institute: https://www.highconflictinstitute.com

New Ways for Families: https://www.conflictplaybook.com/NWFF

Live Lab: https://www.highconflictinstitute.com/bookstores/live-lab

BIFF for Coparent Communication book (affiliate): https://amzn.to/45D9vKq

Ready to create a stepmom life you love? Grab my FREE GUIDE 15 Ways to Become a Happier Stepmom Overnight: https://stepmomming.com/happier

Let’s work together: https://stepmomming.com/quick-links/

Join our FREE support group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/stepmommingainteasy

Here's something I wish I learned a lot sooner...

I have control over my stepmom life.

And once I found it, everything changed.

I want to help you find it, too! Our signature program helping stepmoms claim control is BACK for a limited time!

Join Control Freak Collective now: https://stepmomming.thrivecart.com/control-freak-collective-april-24/.

Have you ever felt like stepmomming has taken over your life? Like the main part of your identity is now “stepmom” and everything else has taken a backseat? I remember feeling like this pressure to be the perfect stepmom was the most important thing in my life, and I needed to be successful. I stopped doing many of the things I loved doing before meeting Kevin and Krista. I let stepmomming become all that I am. But it was suffocating.

One day, I looked in the mirror and hardly recognized myself. Today, I want to talk about that identity crisis I experienced–and that I know many of you experience.

In this episode, I describe and validate the experience for stepmoms who feel like they've lost themselves in the role, and provide valuable tips for reclaiming your identity. Stepmomming is what you do, not who you are.

Ready to learn how to start setting life-changing, marriage-saving boundaries? Grab my FREE GUIDE Basics of a Boundary: https://stepmomming.com/boundaries-basics-guide/

Let’s work together: https://stepmomming.com/quick-links/

Join our FREE support group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/stepmommingainteasy

Here's something I wish I learned a lot sooner...

I have control over my stepmom life.

And once I found it, everything changed.

I want to help you find it, too! Our signature program helping stepmoms claim control is BACK for a limited time!

Join Control Freak Collective now: https://stepmomming.thrivecart.com/control-freak-collective-april-24/.