if you are already a stepmom, or you are a stepmom-to-be, this article might help you weed through what you should and should not expect to sacrifice as a human being who happens to be mate to a man with children, adult or young.

by sharyl jupe and
jann blackstone-ford, m.a

 q.   this story is so weird but is very true.   a few months ago my adult step-daughter was living in our home temporarily between jobs and while my husband and i were on vacation, she asked some very pointed questions about exactly when we would return home.  i thought she may have planned to have a young man in our home while we were away... 

by judy lavin

three years ago, when john and julie smith fell in love and decided to marry they wanted to know what they could do to ease the transition of their marriage on their children. each had 2 biological children of their own, ranging in age from eight to 16 and john and julie knew that getting the families together could be challenging.  unlike other people in their situation, however, john and julie were able to discuss many of the typical stepfamily issues before the wedding, which enabled them to smooth their transition into becoming a merged-family.

by rinatta paries, relationship coach

understanding a person's circumstances often makes accepting his or her behavior easier. today's article will make it easier for you to accept and deal with the "running away" -- whether it's you or your partner who runs -- by gaining such understanding.

please know i am by no means sanctioning or excusing the behaviors i am about to describe. often, these are not the best relationship or life choices. nevertheless, these are some of the ways people tend to behave in relationships.

there is an endless list of reasons why people run from relationships, either permanently or temporarily. it is impossible to cover all these here, so i will address the eight most common reasons why a person may run from a relationship.

by julie donner andersen

it has been written by grief researchers and scholars that it is quite common and normal for a widow/er to hold his/her deceased spouse up on a pedestal.  these knowledgeable professors and doctors of science call this phenomena “canonization”.  in other words, a widow/er tends to remember only that his/her lost spouse was perfect in every way, thus making anyone else, by comparison, seem insignificant and unable to compete with such a virtuous person.