Years ago, I had the opportunity to work closely with a number of blended families as they came through the transition from dating to marriage to blending a new family. It was a fascinating experience as I watched and tried to help new stepfathers adapt to their new and challenging role.
One family in particular had some real challenges. Mom had been divorced for several years and she and her teenage son were in a rhythm at home. Then she met and fell in love with a really great guy who had been divorced as well but lived away from his wife and two children. While the teenage son really liked the man who became his stepfather, he had some challenges learning to love and respect him as a father, and Mom had difficulty too in adapting to sharing the parental role with her new husband.
In a new, engaging and very helpful short e-book, Joe D'Eramo shares his insights and experience as a stepfather. In his book 25 Ways to Go From Stepfather to Stepdad - A Helpful Guide for New and Soon-To-Be Stepfathers, Joe works through the key challenges of adapting to a new role as a stepfather and offers practical and direct advice to men (and mothers and children) learning to fit into a blended family.
Every blended family's situation is unique, and Joe recognizes that in the book. He offers general advice that would be applicable in almost any blended family setting. He offers very helpful insights into issues like:
- What the kids should call their stepdad
- Asking Mom for specific advice
- Making time for the kids' interests
- Handling kid exchange times with the biological dad
- Learning to listen
- Engaging the inlaws in the transition
- Handling home workplace interruptions
- Deciding if and when to have a child
The writing style in 25 Ways to Go From Stepfather to Stepdad - A Helpful Guide for New and Soon-To-Be Stepfathers is simple, engaging and interesting. It is a short book - only 32 pages in PDF format or about 45 pages for the Kindle - but chocked full of insights that can help any new stepfather make the transition into a blended family.
The Bottom Line
25 Ways to Go From Stepfather to Stepdad - A Helpful Guide for New and Soon-To-Be Stepfathers is a short and easy read, but a dad should not be fooled by the brevity. This book is full of important insights, key questions, and helpful advice for nay father trying hard to become an amazing stepdad. It is worth the small investment of time and money to purchase the e-book and then take the time to read it and refer to it often. The stepdads that I worked with those years ago, as well as those that are making the transition today, would gain great benefit from the concepts and counsel offered in 25 Ways to Go From Stepfather to Stepdad - A Helpful Guide for New and Soon-To-Be Stepfathers.
