Occasionally, I’ll have a guest blogger share their own wisdom about families and relationship. Today, I’d like to invite you to read and comment on Karen’s blog post.

This post was written by Karen McMahon, Certified Divorce Coach. Karen is the founder of KM Life Coaching and co-author of “Navigating Your Divorce: A guide to the Legal, Financial and Emotional Basics”, a free eBook. Karen’s passion is to work with men and women going through the divorce process; helping them navigate the difficulties while focusing on personal growth and embracing the opportunities that lie ahead. [Read more →]

Stress is part of our lives whether we like it or not. But understanding what stress does to us can help us manage it in more healthy ways.

Today, I talked with Sue Ann Gleason of Conscious Bites Nutrition where she shared some great tips. [Read more →]

“Mom! Why does everyone need to be celebrating Christmas on the same day? Can’t we just spread it out somehow?”

My 28 year old son is living the Christmas nightmare that many “modern” family experience today.  “Where do you go for dinner, lunch? If I don’t see my parents, will they be upset? But what about my kids? I want to be there for them too.  And my partner’s family wants us there too, but we can’t be at both places at the same time.” URGGGG!!!!! [Read more →]

I enjoy gardening. I love to see my flowers bloom and give off their beautiful aroma. That is what I love about gardening. And plus, it gives me time to nurture and tend to my needs of with nature. One of my issues with gardening is that the weeds creep up when I’m not watching. How can they just pop up so fast? I realize that if I don’t look after my garden on a regular basis, these pesky little weeds just come in and invade my garden. It’s a constant struggle to keep up with getting rid of the weeds. It takes time and energy to create a beautiful garden. [Read more →]

In today’s world maintaining a satisfied relationship requires planning and commitment. With everyone’s lives so busy, it is not automatic anymore to have time to nurture and enjoy our spouses/partners.

Just like a project, you need to set aside time to plan activities that you do as a couple. This creates shared memories that build and strengthen a relationship-the more you have the better the relationship withstands hard times. [Read more →]

Did you ever say something out of anger and thought that well, it’s just words. It can’t hurt that much. They will have forgotten all about this. This is a video that shows just how much it can hurt….

This is a group that went to high schools in order to stop bullying and discrimination. It is a very powerful exercise to show just how much words hurt. I see this in homes too, between couples, parent and child and siblings. Words have a lasting effect and sometimes we don’t know the extent of the damage it has created. [Read more →]

Are you lacking in confidence? Do you need a confidence-boost prior to facing a particularly challenging person or situation? Employ one or more of these tips:

1.  Be willing to take the risk. Start small. Remember previous occasions where going beyond what was comfortable yielded good results. We don’t gain anything if we don’t try it so take the risk to invest time and energy in building the relationship.
2. Decide what you want to see happen. No matter who the other person is—spouse, child, stepkid, ex, in-law, boss, co-worker, neighbor, child’s teacher, parent of child’s best friend, store clerk, another volunteer–visualize something good happening in your relationship.
3. Talk with others involved. Start small—try to get input and develop an understanding instead of having an argument.
4. Ask for help when things get rough. Don’t accept all responsibility for a problem (unless, of course, you are solely at fault). Ask others to help you find solutions and create a win-win situation.
5. Take a look at what you did right and focus on that. No matter how bad a situation or relationship, there is always something positive to be found. Stop searching for—but perhaps never finding—gold and look for the silver lining instead.
6. Don’t forget all those times when things did go well. Even the smallest success is better than nothing. Build on your small successes.
7. Build on the strengths you already possess. Despite what circumstances or other people are telling you, you are a capable and caring individual. Focus on your best qualities—keeping your word, being a good parent, listening, persevering, being willing to ask for help, etc.
8. Build the other person’s confidence. Build others up instead of tearing them down. The more confident you both are, the better equipped you will be to weather the storms inherent in any relationship.
9. Share your confidence with others. By being confident and encouraging, you may win someone over to your side. Being on the same team is so much better for everyone’s confidence than being in opposing camps.
10. Remember self-confidence is always relative to the task and situation. Unfortunately, the same solution does not always work in every situation. Have confidence in yourself—instead of in the solution—and you can handle a variety of tasks and situations.

Have confidence in yourself and be willing to try one or more of these tips the next time you face a challenging problem or person. You can do it!

NOTE: Want to use this article for your blog, e-zine or Web Site? You are welcome to reprint this entire article verbatim if you include the following: Claudette Chenevert is the Stepmom Coach and founder of Coaching Steps LLC. She can help you navigate the untraditional path of stepparenthood. Get tools for creating the family life of your dreams by visiting http://www.stepmomcoach.com 2011, Claudette Chenevert, Coaching Steps LLC

This post was written by Cory Gundrum Sr. There are some very interesting points, especially coming from a man that I felt were worth sharing.

I’d love to hear what you think about this. Share you comments below.

Stepmothers establish relationships with the child and biological mother while serving as a wife and overcoming villainous stereotypes so stepmothers deserve enormous respect. A stepmother starts out disadvantaged because the biological mother already has established bonds with the child, the child’s friends and his or her parents. A stepmother has to set bounds with the biological mother while establishing the rules and expected conduct at her house for the child. These obstacles are difficult because of the villainous stereotypes the entertainment industry projects on stepmothers. The fact that often goes unnoticed is that stepmothers and biological mothers are more alike than they care to admit. [Read more →]

We tend to think that we’re alone when it comes to dealing with issues, especially around the Holidays and Christmas.

Today, I shared the platform with my co-hosts of the Stepmom’s Tool Box Radio show: Paula Bisacre of Remarriage Works, Mary Kelly-Williams of Married with Baggage, Barb Goldberg of The Evil Stepmother Speaks and myself, Claudette Chenevert, The Stepmom Coach, where we each shared our Holiday stories. Amazing to hear the similarities of what we struggled with and the insights we discovered because of our experiences.

As stepfamily-helping professionals, we all share a passion and a vision to make stepfamily living a bit easier. One of the main themes throughout our sharing is to not expect the impossible. Here is the link to our show “Our Most Touching and Horrendous Holiday Stories!”: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/thestepmomstoolbox/2011/12/01/our-most-touching-and-horrendous-holiday-stories [Read more →]