Meeting the step kids for the first time. Meeting your partner’s children (your potential step kids) for the first time is one of the biggest milestones in a relationship. For all involved, it is an event that can in equal measures be nerve-racking and exciting and everything in between. After all, you want it to go well. But it can be hard to predict how the kids – no matter what their age – will react. Never fear, some preparation and forethought can ease the way. Here are our top ten tips for when you meet the step kids for the first time. 1. Wait Avoid the temptation to arrange a face-to ..read more

Often everyone’s adjustment to stepfamily living is easier with an infant or younger child. Younger children are still in the impressionable age of attachment. They tend to be more compliant with significant adults and open to bonding with a new person entering their lives. In contrast, a teenager is at an age whereby they are seeking to become more independent. As they try to figure out how who they are and where they fit in, a teenager’s focus naturally shifts towards relationships with friends and other people outside their family. This will happen irrespective of their family structu ..read more

Resources that capture the complexity of stepfamilies and of stepparenting. Being a stepparent can at times be stressful, daunting and lonely. There are a variety of challenges and obstacles to overcome, all of which contribute to the divorce/separation rate for step-couples being generally higher than that of “first” marriages. It is therefore crucial to make sure that you and your partner have support and realistic advice/information around issues that undermine stepfamily stability and, importantly, that encourage stepfamily success.   But even when you know you want help, it is s ..read more

Post separation and divorce many single parents look forward to the opportunity to establish a satisfying, healthy romantic relationship. However, the emergence of a significant relationship and the formation of a stepfamily, creates change which can challenge children and adults. It can be a difficult act, balancing the competing demands of your own needs and desire for adult companionship and romance with your parental responsibilities and the emotional needs of your children. Rachel Brace – Psychologist If children are spending regular time in a different household with their other parent ..read more

Self-care isn’t enough when it comes to stepmothers. We need the whole village. Self-care is a billion-dollar industry. Yep, 9 zeros. As with anything that gets that much hype and becomes officially ‘trendy’, the origins of what is a helpful narrative can get lost in the repeated translations impacting on the fidelity of the message. Take a look at any version of a #selfcare hashtag and it looks like the self-care movement now belongs solely to white, upper class, skinny, smoothie drinking, law-of-attraction-believing women – including a growing number of stepmother influencers- to the e ..read more

Parental separation and family break-down impacts on thousands of families and children throughout Australia each year. According to the Australian Bureau Of Statistics (ABS), there were 112,954 marriages in Australia in 2017 and  49,032 divorces granted. In 2016 there were 118,401 marriages and 46,604 divorces. These numbers do not include separations of de facto couples and those permanent separations which occur without going through the legal process of divorce. They do, however, highlight that each year many, many Australian children experience family breakdown. It can be hard to k ..read more