Wednesday Martin

Save the date–I will be co-conducting a workshop with Dr. Rachelle Katz (author of The Happy Stepmother) on Saturday March 3 and the Open Center of New York City. Women with stepchildren of any age and their partners are welcome. So are therapists and other professionals who work with repartnered couples with children, or want to learn more about stepfamily dynamics and the issues remarrieds with children of any age face.

Happy New Year, and happy 3rd birthday to Stepmom Magazine. The January issue has more of what you count on it for…sound advice, reassurance, and insight from stepparenting experts and authors like Mary Kelly-Williams, Susan Wisdom, Jenna Korf and Heather Hetchler, to name a few. Check it out…including my piece, “Pulling the Plug on Perfect,” about how letting go of our fixation on happy endings and blended families frees us up to enjoy our lives and our relationships as never before.

If you are married to or partnered with a man with an ex and kids, you need every leg up you can get to keep yourself sane–and keep your partnership alive. Hope you will read my latest on psychologytoday.com. Then tell your husband or partner what happily married people are doing all the time…and leave a comment!

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/stepmonster/201112/give-it-me-often-the-surprising-secret-happy-marriage

The October issue of StepMom Magazine is live! In it you will find articles by experts and women with stepchildren who walk the walk. You will find great advice and insight in these pages. This month I write about women with stepchildren and negativity. What is your best “fix” when you find yourself in a negativity spiral? Tell me about it.

Here’s a link to a radio interview I recently did with stepfamily therapist Mary Kelly-Williams, M.A. of marriedwithbaggage.com on her Blog Talk Radio show. We discussed childless and childfree women with stepchildren, their particular issues and challenges. Hope you will have a listen! Separately, blogger Kim Cottrell wonders “What to call us? Childfree sounds egocentric, childless sounds deprived.” What do you think? Do we need a new term?

I will be discussing the emotional reality of childless and child-free stepmothers with host Mary Kelly-Williams, M.A. on her Blog Talk Radio show September 27 at 11 am EST. Hope you will tune in…you can also call into the show to ask a question.

Hope you will have a look at my latest piece for psychologytoday.com….on working mothers in America. What’s your childcare situation? How’s it working for you? Have a read…and leave a comment.

What are your biggest concerns and issues regarding your parntership with a man with kids (and and ex)? Tell me about it. I will be co-conducting a workshop with stepfamily expert Dr. Rachelle Katz on Saturday September 24 in NYC. Register by clicking here…and tell us about your biggest issue in the comments section below…

The September issues of StepMom Magazine has posted! In it you will find all kinds of informative and helpful articles by stepmothers and stepparenting experts who walk the walk. Mary Kelly Williams on the importance of the couple bond. Heather Hetchler on loyalty binds. Susan Swanson on why women with stepkids need social support–and good girlfriends. And Susan Wisdom in stepparenting teens. And much much more. I do recommend you subscribe today because knowledge is power, and can make this gig a lot less insanity-inducing!

I am the special guest expert on CafeMom’s Stepmom Central board this week. Hope you will stop by the site and ask a question