Click to Enlarge

Smart Stepmom [Paperback] By Ron L. Deal & Laura Petherbridge Our Price $ 11.89   Retail Value $ 13.99   You Save $ 2.10  (15%)   Item Number 548508   Buy New $11.89 Quantity: 1              2              3              4              5              6              7              8

Overview
"Encouragement and practical advice for stepmoms on how to deal with their role in the stepfamily. Includes parenting advice, chapters for the husband to read, guidance for women dating men with children, and tips for relating to adult stepchildren"--Provided by publisher.

Publishers Description
The stepmother's role often is ambiguous and underappreciated, and frequently it carries unrealistic expectations. The book answers women's concerns and questions, including: How can I be a caretaker and a key emotional connector in the family if the children don't accept my influence? How shoud I cope with children who are confused about their family and torn between loyalty to their biological mother and me? When should I step back in conflicts and when should I insist that my husband stand up for me? In addition it addresses the spiritual and emotional climate of the home, providing perspective and guidelines to help stepmothers and their families thrive.

Community Description

The Smart Stepmom: Practical Steps to Help You Thrive
By Ron L. Deal and Laura Petherbridge

Binding: Softcover

Are You The Artisan or Author behind this product? Improve our customers experience by registering for an Artisan Biography Center Homepage.

Smart Stepfamily Item: 20831

	Good insight!  Apr 6, 2010
This guide provides insight in how to step back and evaluate the family situation BEFORE you actually step in. I appreciate how the author's don't sugar coat anything, reiterating time and again that the step-role takes time to work out and work through. There are no false expectations of a quick happily ever after. Moreso, the authors emphasize that the step's role might go unappreciated for a long time; so be ready to deal with it.
	Stepmoms will be energized to stay at the task of rearing, loving and accepting their stepchildren  Dec 8, 2009
Ron L. Deal, founder of "Successful Stepfamilies" and licensed marriage and family therapist, has teamed up with Laura Petherbridge, author of WHEN "I DO" BECOMES "I DON'T," to develop a comprehensive source of practical insights and step-by-step encouragements for stepmoms. Unlike the stereotypical fairy tale portrayal of the wicked stepmother character, Deal and Petherbridge explain that, in the majority of households, nothing could be further from the truth. The vast majority of stepmoms desire nothing more than to take part in creating a successful marriage and passing on a legacy of loving support to their stepchildren. The glitch, however, is how to move from desire to realization. For most stepmoms, the journey is anything but easy and, as many admit, can be the hardest task for a person to undertake. The authors realize how difficult this role of "stepmom" can be, and Petherbridge speaks from firsthand experience as she offers her own personal remembrances of being stepmom to her husband's sons. She cites that stepmoms (like every living person) bring to the new marriage their own past experiences, insights and limitations, which must be recognized and acknowledged, otherwise injured feelings and short-circuit relational growth will occur between everyone in the family. Deal and Petherbridge offer readers (which should include stepmoms, stepdads and every person in the original family unit) great insight and countless practical suggestions for working through every conceivable family dilemma. In the two-section text, stepmoms will gratefully learn that they are not alone in feeling that sudden urge to "run away from home," and that feeling like an "outsider" within the walls of their home is also a common response. Smart stepmoms will learn how valuable it is to understand their spouse's kids, be it the children's loss, grief, or other troubling emotions. Proactive stepmoms will seek to further empathize with stepchildren's expressions of loyalty to their mothers and find ways to help their husbands to parent in an engaged manner. Stepmoms will likewise be eager to pass along this material to their husbands, where both sexes learn how to team up to make a strong and dynamic bond that will filter down into the lives of their children. In two chapters, Deal and Petherbridge focus specifically on educating dads on the challenges their new wives face as stepmoms and how their words, choices and actions impact the kids and their marriage. Lest readers forget, ex-wives continue to play a significant role in the stepmoms' lives and will always do so (the authors even explain how this is true when the first wife is now deceased but her memory lives on). What happens during holiday, vacations and the ominous Mother's Day? Read on to discover the most effective and kindest avenues for making, creating and establishing new traditions that will warm everyone's hearts. It is hard to imagine a more extensive resource material on this challenging topic of entering into and living out the role of stepmom. Excellent from start to finish, stepmoms (and those who love them) will be comforted, encouraged and energized to stay at the task of rearing, loving and accepting their stepchildren. --- Reviewed by Michele Howe
	Best I've read...  Oct 4, 2009
Despite an at times almost overwhelmingly Christian approach, in terms of practical strategies, a useful overall perspective on stepmotherdom and fantastic insight into the step experience for both kids and stepmums, I found this book to be the single most useful stepparenting guide I've read. I'm a secular humanist with little time for dogma in any form, so Christian family how-to guides are not at all my thing, but sifting through this book for the "meat" and ignoring the end of chapter prayers and recurrent church/Biblical references was really, really worthwhile. Interestingly, I certainly would not have bought this book had I realised just how central Christianity was to its ethos, and yet I'm very, very glad I did. Nothing about the Christianity espoused in it was offensive to my feminist secular views - and while the prayers etc where a bit OTT, the insights, especially into kids' experience of divorce, were quite profound. I feel I'm already stepparenting better for having read this book. Now I just need to get my (fanatically atheistic) partner to read it too...
	Practical, Helpful, Readable  Sep 21, 2009
This new book is from one of the "experts" on stepfamilies: Ron Deal. Together with co-author Laura Petherbridge, he's written a helpful book for women who are coping with one of the toughest jobs in the world: stepmom! Let's face it, stepmoms have the most difficult role in a blended family or stepfamily. They are standing in for "real mom" and how can they possibly measure up? It's just incredibly difficult. Anyone looking for help as a stepmom will definitely find it in this book, or in any other book by Ron Deal. I also recommend any blended family or divorce title by Dr. David and Lisa Frisbie, or by Kevin Leman. You'll value any of these authors on this subject. Barbara Sheldon, M.S.W. I also highly recommend: Happily Remarried: Making Decisions Together * Blending Families Successfully * Building a Love That Will Last

Write your own review about Smart Stepmom