Avoid being the Stepzilla in your Blended Family

Most children are familiar with the Cinderella story about a girl whose evil step-mother restricts her from attending the Royal Ball; the heartless queen who casts Snow White to the forest to be murdered because she was claimed as the fairest in the land; or Mother Gothel from Tangled who maliciously suckled Rapunzel’s youth. But being a part of a blended family doesn't have to be a story of good versus evil.

The picture of a stepmother is not painted with bright pastels but with a paintbrush dipped in black. It is interesting that these are usually the first images of a stepmother that children are introduced to and more often than not, children carry these perceptions into reality.

For the step-mom, as much as they do their best to rise about the “Cinderella” syndrome, it is harder than you think. Simply marrying the “father” in itself can set the stage for resentment and jealousy.

If this accusation is true, stepmothers, in reality, have a high mountain to climb to rid that image of the evil stepmother. As a stepmother myself, I reflected on how my husband (their father) and I proved that I am not any of the Disney evil stepmothers that are sometimes found in a blended family.

There are many reasons that people divorce. I have heard about everything and of course, some reasons stand out more than others. The one I hear all too often is the inability to integrate families successfully.

Second marriages actually have a higher chance of failing than first marriages. Certainly, some of the reason is that the fact that the parties may simply be set in their ways but it can also be complicated by the challenge of being a stepparent.

Blended Family Tips

Once couples come to see me, it is too late. However, there are things that you can do when you are entering a marriage and about to become a stepparent/stepmother:

• Make sure that you and your new husband are on the same page with regards to priorities for the family
• Discuss in advance with your husband how you will handle disputes around parenting
• Mentor instead of mothers
• Give them space and time to come to you instead of forcing them to like you
• Do not ever bad mouth their mother – even if your husband does
• Do not bad mouth his kids – ever
• You can discuss issues but never criticize the kids
• Show interest in them regardless their feelings and interest in you
• Know you will be ok but not likely great
• Ensure that they feel welcome in your house
• Give them space and time with their dad
• Find something you can do with them and invite them to participate
• Tell them how great they are but do it from the heart and do not expect it back
• Make them dinner and ensure you treat them special on their birthdays
• If you have kids ensure you treat them all the same – as best you can. Clearly, you will feel differently about your own but be very careful to not be over.
• Your kids (if you have them) will come first but be careful to not turn that into actions

How you enter a family that has been through a divorce will set the stage for your future in that relationship. In time, you may become the good witch instead of the wicked witch of the west.

Fairway Can Help with Your Unique Situation

While our primary goal is to help divorcing couples down a path of success, that is not all that we do. Our team of experts have been there and done that. They have seen situations just like yours. Even if you are just looking for a bit of advice, Fairway can help. It may be the little push that you need to figure out the dichotomy of your blended family.