Tiny Pep Talks for Stepparents

Because it sure feels weird trying to find an appropriate balance between “celebratory” and “boundaries.”Read the full transcript on Substack >>--➡️ STRUGGLING? START HERE!🧡 JOIN OUR SUPPORT COMMUNITY🗣️ SHARE YOUR OWN STORY! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit blendedfamilyfrappe.substack.com/subscribe

Surviving the holiday season when you’re not feeling particularly grateful for stepfam life. Today's episode is taken from a post I wrote last year and thought this would be a good time to share again. xoRead the full transcript on Substack >>SAVE 50% FOR LIFE! >>--➡️ STRUGGLING? START HERE!🧡 JOIN OUR SUPPORT COMMUNITY🗣️ SHARE YOUR OWN STORY! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit blendedfamilyfrappe.substack.com/subscribe

When your blended family can’t celebrate traditional holidays, sometimes you gotta improvise.Read the full transcript on Substack >>--➡️ STRUGGLING? START HERE!🧡 JOIN OUR SUPPORT COMMUNITY🗣️ SHARE YOUR OWN STORY! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit blendedfamilyfrappe.substack.com/subscribe

Our list of 9 tips, tricks, ideas, and reminders to help stepparents get through the holiday season all in one piece. (Hopefully with your sanity still intact.🤞🏼)Read the full transcript on Substack >>SAVE 50% THRU THE HOLIDAYS WITH THIS LINK! >>--➡️ STRUGGLING? START HERE!🧡 JOIN OUR SUPPORT COMMUNITY🗣️ SHARE YOUR OWN STORY! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit blendedfamilyfrappe.substack.com/subscribe

Stepparenting in the aftermath of your partner’s high-conflict divorce requires a completely different approach.For help with this, please watch High Conflict Stepparenting, our workshop for stepparents who need extra support while trying to blend under intense pressure. It's included as a perk for our paid Substack subscribers.Read the full transcript on Substack >>--➡️ STRUGGLING? START HERE!🧡 JOIN OUR SUPPORT COMMUNITY🗣️ SHARE YOUR OWN STORY! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit blendedfamilyfrappe.substack.com/subscribe

Stepparenting requires a lot of sacrifices — many of which are significant; most of which we had no idea we’d have to make. So grief is part of stepparenting too, although I don’t think any of us realize that going in.Read the full transcript on Substack >>--➡️ STRUGGLING? START HERE!🧡 JOIN OUR SUPPORT COMMUNITY🗣️ SHARE YOUR OWN STORY! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit blendedfamilyfrappe.substack.com/subscribe

A pep talk for stepparents who struggle to feel like they’re making any kinda difference in their blended families.Read the full transcript on Substack >>--➡️ STRUGGLING? START HERE!🧡 JOIN OUR SUPPORT COMMUNITY🗣️ SHARE YOUR OWN STORY! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit blendedfamilyfrappe.substack.com/subscribe

You can’t co-parent with someone who won’t compromise. Put that energy toward blending your family instead.Read the full transcript on Substack >>--➡️ STRUGGLING? START HERE!🧡 JOIN OUR SUPPORT COMMUNITY🗣️ SHARE YOUR OWN STORY! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit blendedfamilyfrappe.substack.com/subscribe

Today I'm sharing some of the (many) misconceptions I had to stumble over as I slowwwwly shifted from a single parent perspective to a stepfamily mindset.Read the full transcript on Substack >>HELPFUL RESOURCES FOR PARTNERS:Stepcouplehood needs to be a partnershipThe 3 stages of blending your familyHow to Actually Blend: The Missing Instruction Manual for Stepcouples6 things stepparents wish their partners knewWhy your relationship (NOT the kids) should come first in a stepfamilyStepparents & disciplining stepkids--➡️ STRUGGLING? START HERE!🧡 JOIN OUR SUPPORT COMMUNITY🗣️ SHARE YOUR OWN STORY! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit blendedfamilyfrappe.substack.com/subscribe

If you’re ready to shift out of reactive mode as a stepparent and recover your center, disengaging could be the first step in rediscovering what you want and need.GRAB YOUR FREE STEMOMCON25 TICKET! >>Read the full transcript on Substack >>--➡️ STRUGGLING? START HERE!🧡 JOIN OUR SUPPORT COMMUNITY🗣️ SHARE YOUR OWN STORY! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit blendedfamilyfrappe.substack.com/subscribe

The more you know about the complexities of stepfam life, the more you’re setting yourself up for success. And, by extension, the rest of your blended family too.GRAB YOUR FREE TICKET TO STEPMOMCON 2025! >>Read the full transcript on Substack >>--➡️ STRUGGLING? START HERE!🧡 JOIN OUR SUPPORT COMMUNITY🗣️ SHARE YOUR OWN STORY! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit blendedfamilyfrappe.substack.com/subscribe

Stepparenting compassion fatigue is what happens when your heart can literally no longer feel empathy because you’ve been so overexposed to never-ending stepfamily problems.If that's you, go grab my guide: 17 coping tips for managing overwhelming emotions and please know YOU ARE NOT ALONE. xoRead the full transcript on Substack >>--➡️ STRUGGLING? START HERE!🧡 JOIN OUR SUPPORT COMMUNITY🗣️ SHARE YOUR OWN STORY! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit blendedfamilyfrappe.substack.com/subscribe

Happy Stepfamily Day (Sep 16th) to all the incredible blended families out there that look nothing like the Brady Bunch.The Brady Bunch laid the groundwork for decades of unrealistic expectations about blended families. The real journey toward blended is so much more intimidating. Which doesn't mean we're failing at becoming a family; it’s just that our preconceptions about what "blended" really means are misinformed.Read the full transcript on Substack >>--➡️ STRUGGLING? START HERE!🧡 JOIN OUR SUPPORT COMMUNITY🗣️ SHARE YOUR OWN STORY! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit blendedfamilyfrappe.substack.com/subscribe

You do not need to be perfect to be a good stepparent. You’re certainly not responsible for living up to someone else’s unrealistic stepparenting expectations. Or your own unrealistic expectations!Read the full transcript on Substack >>--➡️ STRUGGLING? START HERE!🧡 JOIN OUR SUPPORT COMMUNITY🗣️ SHARE YOUR OWN STORY! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit blendedfamilyfrappe.substack.com/subscribe

If you need help wrapping your brain around the idea of of disengaging in a positive way, I wrote a whole ebook to help with that: ➡️ Not Your Circus, Not Your Monkeys: The Frustrated Stepparent's Guide to Reclaiming Personal Peace. It includes advice and a step-by-step how-to along with my personal stories about disengaging, plus a bunch of different “how I disengaged” examples from other stepparents.This ebook is included as a perk for our paid subscribers on Substack, but you can also buy it as a standalone right here.Read the full episode transcript on Substack >>--➡️ STRUGGLING? START HERE!🧡 JOIN OUR SUPPORT COMMUNITY🗣️ SHARE YOUR OWN STORY! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit blendedfamilyfrappe.substack.com/subscribe

A high conflict ex can turn stepfamily life into a nightmare. How can stepparents keep from getting cooked ourselves?Read the full transcript on Substack >>--➡️ STRUGGLING? START HERE!🧡 JOIN OUR SUPPORT COMMUNITY🗣️ SHARE YOUR OWN STORY! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit blendedfamilyfrappe.substack.com/subscribe

It literally took years for Dan & I to get on the same page as a stepcouple. Which, it turns out, is pretty normal in a blended family. That sure doesn’t make it easy though! Which is why we put together this guide: How to Actually Blend: The Missing Instruction Manual for Stepcouples.You might also want to check out:The 3 phases (& 7 stages) of blending your familyBlended family red flagsRead the full transcript on Substack >>--➡️ STRUGGLING? START HERE!🧡 JOIN OUR SUPPORT COMMUNITY🗣️ SHARE YOUR OWN STORY! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit blendedfamilyfrappe.substack.com/subscribe

So much of successfully navigating stepparenting depends on our ability to think outside the box — to get creative, to redefine how “family” looks and feels, to reassess what it means to be a stepparent in a way that actually works for us. And all of that applies to self-care for stepparents as well: it’s probably not gonna look how you thought. Which is normal and okay.Read the full transcript on Substack >>--➡️ STRUGGLING? START HERE!🧡 JOIN OUR SUPPORT COMMUNITY🗣️ SHARE YOUR OWN STORY! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit blendedfamilyfrappe.substack.com/subscribe

A pep talk for stepparents who get gaslit into believing that the dysfunction at home and/or between co-parents is somehow their fault.Read the full transcript on Substack >>--➡️ STRUGGLING? START HERE!🧡 JOIN OUR SUPPORT COMMUNITY🗣️ SHARE YOUR OWN STORY! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit blendedfamilyfrappe.substack.com/subscribe

How to deal when your stepkids are the very definition of a special snowflake.Read the full transcript on Substack >>--➡️ STRUGGLING? START HERE!🧡 JOIN OUR SUPPORT COMMUNITY🗣️ SHARE YOUR OWN STORY! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit blendedfamilyfrappe.substack.com/subscribe