Dear Valued Users,
It's with a heavy heart that we announce the permanent closure of StepTalk.org on August 31st, 2025.
This decision wasn't an easy one. For over twenty years, StepTalk has been a source of support for stepparents around the world! However, over the years, the costs associated with maintaining and upgrading the site to remain secure, meet current standards and maintain availability have become unsustainable.
We are incredibly grateful for your support, contributions and the community you've helped us build. Your engagement has made StepTalk.org a special place and we cherish the memories and connections made here.
We would especially like to thank Aniki for volunteering to be a moderator and for caring so much.
Thank you for being a part of our journey and we wish you all the best.
Sincerely,
Dawn and The StepTalk Team
Say no. I won’t waste our
Say no. I won’t waste our time or money buying anything for BM and skids would never ask us to. One Christmas however skids stepfather refused to take them to buy gifts for BM so we had to stop at a cheap drugstore to get her a gift but only with money that skid had given us.
Hell no, no f ing way
Hell no, no f ing way
Buy some really disgusting
Buy some really disgusting cheap perfume. Tell her to draw a picture instead of a card.
We always ask SO's girls if
We always ask SO's girls if they want to make cards for BM's birthday and mother's day. BM acknowledges SO's birthday and father's day on FB, and has sent a birthday card herself in the past, but she hasn't had the kids do anything for his birthday or father's day. I make sure they have a card and a gift for him for both his birthday and father's day, so it's not necessary for her to do it. It costs very little to help them make cards or pick out a small gift for BM, and it means a lot to the kids. We're doing it more for them than for her; they enjoy having something for her, it's good for them to acknowledge their mother, and it's the way SO wants to raise them.
Now, if she was high conflict, I suspect things would be different. Fortunately, she's reasonably cooperative.
Yep, sit down and make
Yep, sit down and make something with them. Or give them a chore and pay them for it, then they can spend that money on whatever they want.
Whenever we were on vacation my kids had $10 a day (thier own savings) to spend on souveniers. They could spend it all on one thing or a bunch of little things. It was up to them if they wanted to buy things for other people, including their Dad.
Get used to it.
Get used to it.
Because BM wasn't married, we did Birthday, Christmas, and Mother's day gifts from all 3 skids. That was 9 gifts a year...in addition to the crazy CS...so a couple hundred extra dollars every year in gifts that we let the kids pick out.
Of course, she never helped them do the same for DH, and we didn't have custody...so I always had to try to scramble to help them do something for him.
I'm 56 and my mom still buys
The high road is rarely effective in forcing a toxic opposition to do the right thing. Time for Dad to tell the skid no to the requests for the toxic BM.