Those of you who read my past blogs know there's a strange relationship between DH and his middle daughter, 16. However, he's starting to 'see the light' (maybe? fingers crossed).

She's been away at camp for the last 3 weeks and before she went away he was worried about her, so he asked her to check in. Of course, when she FINALLY got her phone back from the camp staff, she did on the first day, but after that, just blew him off (as usual).

I have been a stepmother for 4 years now doing all the driving with hubby to pick up and drop off stepkids.There is a set schedule that is only followed if they feel like it.My issue is my stepson 16

Hi everyone, just curious to see if anyone is reading anything good.

I am reading a book right now called "Between Two Worlds: The Inner Lives of Children of Divorce" By Elizabeth Marquardt.

It's very interesting and I would recommend it to any of you.

I would tell mine that he lets his oldest SD5 get away with more. And in his family it's all about SD5. I would ask him does SD4 get treated different because she looks like her mom. Then I would tell him that he needs to deal with BM not his mom, because they are his kids.

I've finally decided to talk to BF and tell him that I am going to emotionally distance myself from his children AND if he can't stand up to BM and all of her bs, as well as his manipulative child (SD16), I am leaving.

My boyfriend and I have been together for around 4 years. We lived together, with joint custody of his son, for a year and a half. Things were not working out with us, mostly because of issues relating to his son. After reading several books on stepparenting and going to counselling with my boyfriend about our issues, nothing seemed to get better. We both tried very hard, but I couldn't take it anymore. I moved out and we have continued to see eachother for the last year and a half on days when he doesn't have his son. Our relationship is definitely more enjoyable now, but still somewhat strained because of having to work around the custody arrangement. There are a lot of serious unresolved issues between us from when we lived together and I'm not sure what the best way to deal with these issues is. It may seem highly impractical, but my plan at present is to wait until his son is out of the house (I assume that will be about 10 years from now) and then move back in together. I know this is sort of ridiculous, but I don't know what else to do. My boyfriend and I are very much in love and are best friends. I can't really imagine being with anyone else.

I have been so worked up over the recent issues with BM I have been forgetting to focus on the positive. Last Friday BF and BM went to mediation to hash things out. Well it did not go well for her at all, hehe.

I had all my resolve up to talk to him tonight. I've been waiting for him to come home. He's in construction and gone all week, but coming home early b/c of holiday on Fri. I finally get ahold of him on his cell phone only to find out he and his buddies have been drinking on the car ride home for 3 hours and he's drunk! So much for the talk I wanted to have tonight.

I had to change my screen name, b/c as someone posted, you can go to google and read your posts......not good, so I am now Sia, in honor of my cat "Sia" who was Siamese (hence the name Sia). I had to have her put to sleep last Friday, I miss her so.....

personal items from a previous marriage after you remarry? For example: ring, dress, pictures etc? Have any of you kept any items for your kids from a previous marriage? Dh kept wedding band for skids.