Mother’s Day Dare

Hi gals:

Here’s a dare for you from The Step Mom’s Toolbox: Send a Mother’s Day card to your stepchildren’s mother. Can you do it? Will you? Here’s more of the post, check out the blog for the full story.

“This Mother’s Day I am going to not only honor and recognize my mom, my step mom, and my mother-in-law, but I am also going to honor and recognize my daughters’ step mom (she would be my ex-husband’s wife) AND my step children’s mom (she would be my husband’s ex-wife).

This costs me NOTHING except $3.00 for a nice Hallmark card and what ever the US Postal Service is charging for stamps these days.

My goal is to encourage 5,000 or more step moms to send their step kids’ mom a Mother’s Day card.”

 

Mother’s Day Prep

All right. We know it’s coming. Mother’s Day is Sunday, May 10. So instead of waiting until the last minute, let’s get some ideas flowing ladies about how we’re going to spend the day. The goal, of course, is to avoid hurt feelings. Here are a few ideas:

• Remind your husband that mother’s day is approaching and you would like him to get you a card to celebrate the great job you’ve done stepmothering his children for the past year.
• Plan to be out of the house doing something you love. I always love a good massage, so that’s on the books for me!
• Make a lunch or cocktails date with your stepmom girlfriends.
• Celebrate your own mother with a visit to her house.
• Ignore the day completely and throw your own special stepmom day.

So how do you plan to spend the day? Please submit your traditions in case the rest of us what to try something new! And I hope you will, at the very least, pat yourself on the back on Mother’s Day for a job well done. Being a stepmother is not the easiest road to walk and you deserve major kudos!

Survive Mother’s Day

Mother’s Day is dreaded by many stepmoms, but it doesn’t have to be. Try these alternatives to hurt feelings because you didn’t get a card or call from your stepkids.

1. Celebrate Mother’s Day with your own mom.

2. Throw a Stepmom Celebration on a completely different day.

3. Ask your husband to give you a card and thank you for all the work you do as a stepmom.

4. Go out with your girlfriends and do something fun.

5. If the kids are with their mom, plan a romantic weekend with your partner.

Even if you’re one of the lucky ones who has stepkids who acknowledge you on this day, make sure to take a moment to give yourself a pat on the back. Look in the mirror and tell yourself how incredibly awesome you are for giving so much to these people in your life.

Tips to help you enjoy Mother’s Day

1. Give yourself a gift. And I mean something amazing-some item or outing that will take your mind off stepkids who might not call or send cards. I have a lovely bracelet I received from myself last year for a job well done.  

2. Have lunch with your best friend. See the people you love who you make you feel good about yourself.  

3. Ask your spouse to cook dinner. It’s a special day. Let your partner do the heavy lifting.

4. Go easy on yourself. It’s an emotionally loaded day for women who do so much work of raising kids without the credit. If you’re having a rough time, be forgiving of yourself.

5. Create your own day. One of my stepdaughters decided our family should celebrate Jacque Day-a separate day from Mother’s day, which my stepkids celebrate with their mother. It was incredibly sweet of her, but it also let us off the hook. Now we don’t have to feel weird or guilty about what we “should” be doing on Mother’s Day. And the kids aren’t placed in a loyalty bind by feeling they have to give me attention on their mom’s day. Happy [insert your name here] Day!