What is a Mom?

During our debate yesterday, a commenter at Now Is Good suggested that a father’s significant other could “play mom” and therefore invade Mom’s territory or otherwise strain relationships. I responded in the comment thread, but I thought this might be worthy of a full post, so here it is…

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Your Opinion: A Good Parent??

I’ve heard it many times: “My ex doesn’t see the kids anymore because he/she is too involved with his/her new family.”

The explanations might vary. Perhaps distance is to blame… maybe Mom and Dad’s relationship was so volatile that one of them felt it necessary to disappear… or I guess it’s possible that the new tribe is just more fun/engaging/nice/etc.

In one family, this person is celebrated for his/her love and devotion. In another family, the same person is cursed for his/her lack of the same.

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Poisonous Fairytales

Little girls have been raised to believe that Prince Charming will tirelessly travel to every house for miles and miles until he finds his true love… this, after mice are magically transformed into horses. We’re programmed to believe that those who love us (parents, siblings, lovers, fairy godmothers) will do whatever it takes… whatever that means.

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RE: Blending Families; The Imperative Inquisition

Blended Family Territory is difficult to navigate. It doesn’t matter which branch of the tree you represent nor does it matter how old you are or where you live. At some point, everyone reaches his/her own “WTF!?!?!?” moments. I wanted to plot a map of this new territory, so I called upon my sister and we pinged Stepsister on Facebook:

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