My husband gets to see his children every other weekend and on alternating holidays. They live about an hour's drive away from us and he does his best to also make it to football games, dance recitals, and award ceremonies whenever work and schedules allow. Like any devoted parent, he misses his children to the point of heartache an grieves deeply when he hasn't been able to see them between the two-week-period visits. Seeing this, I've done my best to plan and prepare every needful thing for their visits so everyone can have an enjoyable time together. Not everything always comes off perfectly, though; and, that's to be expected in life in general--not just when dealing with step-families. But for some reason, every little thing that doesn't go according to plan seems to turn into an even bigger issue than it needs to be and we all can become fed up with the whole thing.
Historically, there doesn't seem to be a lot of help out there with regard to step-parenting; but, volumes of resources are emerging in our wonderfully convenient digital age. I bought a book a few years ago about being a step-mother and how to be successful as one, but I felt like it was too much of a cookie-cutter self-help book that was written on a 3rd grade reading level without solid data or realistic examples to back it up. So, I went to YouTube. There are some great videos on YouTube to help with marriage and step-parenting that have helped me to understand more fully my role as a step-mom. Ron Deal seems to be the largest mover and shaker in the step-family field today. He has some great videos, seminars and conferences that focus on the success of step-families. His website is http://thesmartstepfamily.com/index.php which also has products likes books and DVDs for sale on the site.
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