Guest post by author Karen Struck What does family mean to you? Today’s definition of family means something different to each and every one of us. My favorite definition of family is quoted by an unknown author: “Family isn’t always blood. It’s the people in your life who want you in theirs; the ones who
When you are inspired by some great purpose, some extraordinary project, all your thoughts break their bonds: your mind transcends limitations, your consciousness expands in every direction, and you find yourself in a new, great, and wonderful world. Dormant forces, faculties, and talents become alive, and you discover yourself to be a greater person by far
A BIG thank you to everyone who joined us at JesterZ Improv for Stepfamily Appreciation Night, a fun night of laughter to honor stepfamilies for National Stepfamily Day! As you know, being part of a stepfamily requires a great sense of humor, and sometimes you just have to laugh at some of the situations that you
When you think of conflict, what images immediately come to mind? Do you have a positive image of conflict, or do you picture frustrated people yelling at each other? Many people today have a negative view of conflict, and they try to avoid it at all costs. In fact, conflict avoidance is the primary stumbling
Thank you to everyone who attended the Payson Book Festival! My passion is educating and empowering stepfamilies, so I was excited to present my “Top 3 Tips for Stepfamily Success” at the event. My presentation opened up a dialogue about stepfamilies and sparked some thoughtful questions. Any opportunity to educate others about stepfamilies is a
One day that’s tough for everyone is Transition Day, the day when your stepchildren will be either coming to your house or transitioning back to Mom’s house. Emotions run high because your stepkids are adjusting to different rules or possibly even a different role. They might be a younger sibling in one household and an
As an educator, at the end of a semester, I have equally conflicting emotions of both joy and dread. I’m excited to see how much my students have progressed during the class, but I’m also nervous about receiving my evaluations from the students. Did they learn a lot? Did they feel the same way about
Are you getting enough quality time with your husband? Do you have regular date nights? Do you have time to talk to each other after the children go to bed? Of course, we’d like to answer “yes!” to all of these questions, but the reality is that it can be a struggle to get that