It's May, the month of Mother's Day. While mothers all over the country are looking forward to celebrating this day with their children, many stepmoms are left wondering how and where they fit in. Being a stepmother is by far the hardest role in the stepfamily system. And this isn't just a two-time stepmother telling you that - it's what a study of 1,400 stepfamilies discovered. While being a stepfather is difficult as well, stepmothers can receive a level of anger from stepchildren and ex-spouses that stepfathers rarely experience.

Women who fall in love with a man with children truly think they can handle being a stepmom. Most stepmoms, myself included, come from the right place and want to help with their partner's children and develop some sort of relationship with them. So we open up our hearts, allow for our own vulnerability to show, and attempt to befriend and care about our partner's children.

But, often, the hurt from trying to do this eventually comes, and the reality sinks in that being a stepmom is not exactly what you expected. When these realities and feelings about your stepkids begin to emerge, you may find you're not able to be as generous with your warmth and caring. In fact, you may feel like you want to run away and leave all these people who can hurt you behind. 

 

Read the full article here.