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	<title>Stepcoupling &#187; Developing and Growing your Blended Family</title>
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	<link>http://www.stepcoupling.com</link>
	<description>Susan Wisdom writes about the challenges and joys of Step Parenting.</description>
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		<title>A New Chapter For The Blog</title>
		<link>http://www.stepcoupling.com/2011/10/a-new-chapter-for-the-blog/</link>
		<comments>http://www.stepcoupling.com/2011/10/a-new-chapter-for-the-blog/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 18 Oct 2011 19:16:45 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Susan Wisdom</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Developing and Growing your Blended Family]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Enhancing Your Stepcouple Relationship]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Stepcouple Challenges]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Taking Care of Yourself]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[clinical help for stepcouples]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[new perspective]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[stepcouple examples]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[stepfamily examples]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[stepfamily therapist]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[the voice of experience]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.stepcoupling.com/?p=1010</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[As a companion to my book, this blog is a platform for me to share resources, tools, and inspiration with readers in all stages of stepcoupling. I’ve shared a lot of my personal experiences and lessons I learned as a stepmother. In the next phase of the blog, I’m going to shift perspectives a bit [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Looking Back And Appreciating The Present &#8211; It Can Happen To You!</title>
		<link>http://www.stepcoupling.com/2011/09/looking-back-and-appreciating-the-present-it-can-happen-to-you/</link>
		<comments>http://www.stepcoupling.com/2011/09/looking-back-and-appreciating-the-present-it-can-happen-to-you/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 28 Sep 2011 17:20:04 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Susan Wisdom</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Building Relationships with Kids and Stepkids]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Developing and Growing your Blended Family]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[beauty of grandchildren]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[great fun and shared memories]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[light at the end of the tunnel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[memories from past]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[stepcoupling]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[stepfamily as it ages]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[stepfamily celebrations]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[stepfamily challenges]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[story telling]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Summer trip with stepfamily]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.stepcoupling.com/?p=1004</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I wish that, back in the chaotic and stressful years when I was newly remarried with 5 children, I could have seen what the future held for our family. The highlight of this summer was a family gathering that I couldn’t have imagined back then. Our family spent a week in central Oregon—without a fight [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.stepcoupling.com/2011/09/looking-back-and-appreciating-the-present-it-can-happen-to-you/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>4</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Who’s Interests Are You Really Serving? The Kids Or Your Own?</title>
		<link>http://www.stepcoupling.com/2011/08/who%e2%80%99s-interests-are-you-really-serving-the-kids-or-your-own/</link>
		<comments>http://www.stepcoupling.com/2011/08/who%e2%80%99s-interests-are-you-really-serving-the-kids-or-your-own/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 03 Aug 2011 15:00:15 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Susan Wisdom</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Building Relationships with Kids and Stepkids]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Developing and Growing your Blended Family]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Taking Care of Yourself]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[communicating with the other parent]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[conflicts between parents]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[conflicts in stepfamilies]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[dealing with ex spouses]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[doing what is best for the kids]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[how to compromise with your spouse]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[national debt crisis]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[values in families]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.stepcoupling.com/?p=927</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The recent crisis over our country’s debt limit and the way our leaders are handling it got me thinking about the way many stepfamilies and ex-spouses relate to each other. Conflict is inevitable in the environment of a remarried family or stepfamily (meaning a divorced couple, their children, and their new partners). There is a great [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.stepcoupling.com/2011/08/who%e2%80%99s-interests-are-you-really-serving-the-kids-or-your-own/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Marriage Maintenance:  A Husband’s Point Of View</title>
		<link>http://www.stepcoupling.com/2011/07/marriage-maintenance-a-husband%e2%80%99s-point-of-view/</link>
		<comments>http://www.stepcoupling.com/2011/07/marriage-maintenance-a-husband%e2%80%99s-point-of-view/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 07 Jul 2011 15:00:39 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Susan Wisdom</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Developing and Growing your Blended Family]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Enhancing Your Stepcouple Relationship]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[communicating with your wife]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[how to make your wife happy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[husband's point of view]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[maintaining a happy marriage]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[marriage advice]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[marriage maintenance]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.stepcoupling.com/?p=825</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[My restored ’55 Chevy Pickup started making a “tick, tick, tick” noise when I stepped on the gas. It seemed to drive OK, but I was afraid something might be going wrong, so I took it to the mechanic to get checked out. The mechanic told me that I had a gas leak caused by [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.stepcoupling.com/2011/07/marriage-maintenance-a-husband%e2%80%99s-point-of-view/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Stepfamily Vacations – Deal Breaker or Connection Maker?</title>
		<link>http://www.stepcoupling.com/2011/06/stepfamily-vacations-%e2%80%93-deal-breaker-or-connection-maker/</link>
		<comments>http://www.stepcoupling.com/2011/06/stepfamily-vacations-%e2%80%93-deal-breaker-or-connection-maker/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 21 Jun 2011 15:00:26 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Susan Wisdom</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Building Relationships with Kids and Stepkids]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Developing and Growing your Blended Family]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Stepcouple Challenges]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[conflicts in stepfamily]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[fun vacations with kids]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[introducing kids to another family]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[stepcouple advice]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[successful summer vacations]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vacations for stepfamilies]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.stepcoupling.com/?p=800</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[She’s been dating this guy. She might even love him…but he has two kids and she has one. She always said she’d NEVER hook up with a man who has kids! Growing up, she had a stepmother she hated. Her dad was always with “her,” and she never got any one-on-one time with her father. [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.stepcoupling.com/2011/06/stepfamily-vacations-%e2%80%93-deal-breaker-or-connection-maker/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>SUMMER SANITY IN STEPFAMILIES – IS THERE SUCH A THING?</title>
		<link>http://www.stepcoupling.com/2011/06/summer-sanity-in-stepfamilies-is-there-such-a-thing-2/</link>
		<comments>http://www.stepcoupling.com/2011/06/summer-sanity-in-stepfamilies-is-there-such-a-thing-2/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 07 Jun 2011 15:00:41 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Susan Wisdom</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Building Relationships with Kids and Stepkids]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Developing and Growing your Blended Family]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Stepcouple Challenges]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Taking Care of Yourself]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[SUMMER SANITY IN STEPFAMILIES AND STEPCOUPLES]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[SUMMER SELF CARE FOR STEPMOMS]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[SURVIVING LONG DAYS WITH KIDS AND STEPKIDS]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[SURVIVING SUMMER WITH KIDS]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[TAKE IT EASY]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[TAKING A BREAK FROM KIDS]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.stepcoupling.com/?p=768</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[School’s almost out and summer vacation begins. Vacation for kids is hardly a vacation for the parents and stepparents raising them. The complaints: “THERE’S NOTHING TO DO.” The requests: “Can so and so come over?” The demands: “Take me here, there and everywhere…NOW!” “I need money to go to the mall!” “Everyone else gets to [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.stepcoupling.com/2011/06/summer-sanity-in-stepfamilies-is-there-such-a-thing-2/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>One Mixed Up Bundle Of Relationships</title>
		<link>http://www.stepcoupling.com/2011/04/one-mixed-up-bundle-of-relationships/</link>
		<comments>http://www.stepcoupling.com/2011/04/one-mixed-up-bundle-of-relationships/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 19 Apr 2011 15:00:35 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Susan Wisdom</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Building Relationships with Kids and Stepkids]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Deciding to Remarry]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Developing and Growing your Blended Family]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Stepcouple Challenges]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[becoming a blended family]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[becoming a stepfamily]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[conflicts in stepfamily]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[From romance to marriage]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[from single mom to stepfamily]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[journey to stepparenting]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[second marriage]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[stepcouple adjustment]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.stepcoupling.com/?p=720</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I was a single mother minding my own business when I met David. When we started dating, the relationship was perfectly uncomplicated. He had his place and I had mine.  When our kids were with their other parents, we’d always get together. One evening, David invited me over for dinner. He cooked New Orleans Shrimp [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.stepcoupling.com/2011/04/one-mixed-up-bundle-of-relationships/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>TIME FOR HEALING…Relationships and More</title>
		<link>http://www.stepcoupling.com/2011/03/time-for-healing-relationships/</link>
		<comments>http://www.stepcoupling.com/2011/03/time-for-healing-relationships/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 10 Mar 2011 20:50:16 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Susan Wisdom</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Developing and Growing your Blended Family]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Stepcouple Challenges]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Taking Care of Yourself]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[and stepcoupling]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[healing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kids growing up and moving on]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Moving from misery to maturation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[new relationships and boundaries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[patience and perseverance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[reminiscing the positives and negatives]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[stepfamilies]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[stepparenting]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.stepcoupling.com/?p=710</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I didn&#8217;t know what to expect! I recently had back surgery and have been recovering in bed at home. Lots of time to think and reminisce. I&#8217;ve been in a stepfamily for 35 years. Seems like just yesterday that I was yelled at &#8220;GET OUT OF MY LIFE&#8221;…or worse,&#8221; I HATE YOU, BITCH and so [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.stepcoupling.com/2011/03/time-for-healing-relationships/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>CREATING THE STEPFAMILY YOU DREAM OF&#8230; A Trip Down Memory Lane</title>
		<link>http://www.stepcoupling.com/2011/02/you-can-create-the-family-you-dream-of/</link>
		<comments>http://www.stepcoupling.com/2011/02/you-can-create-the-family-you-dream-of/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 07 Feb 2011 18:48:39 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Susan Wisdom</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Building Relationships with Kids and Stepkids]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Developing and Growing your Blended Family]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[family memories]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[growing up in a stepfamily]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[kids need stability in stepfamilies]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Making collaborative decisions]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[making decisions as a stepfamily]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[making decisions together]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.stepcoupling.com/?p=685</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[In my articles, I talk a lot about the difficulties that new stepcouples face and how to address them. I also think it’s important to celebrate the possibilities for what a stepfamily can become. The other night, over dinner with our kids and grandkids, we reminisced about what it was like growing up in our [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.stepcoupling.com/2011/02/you-can-create-the-family-you-dream-of/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Memories… In a File Folder</title>
		<link>http://www.stepcoupling.com/2011/01/memories-in-a-file-folder/</link>
		<comments>http://www.stepcoupling.com/2011/01/memories-in-a-file-folder/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 12 Jan 2011 20:12:13 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Susan Wisdom</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Building Relationships with Kids and Stepkids]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Developing and Growing your Blended Family]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[gifts from kids]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[storing mementos]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Storing memories]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.stepcoupling.com/?p=664</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[While cleaning recently, David came across a bulging file folder titled KIDS &#8211; REPORTS, LETTERS, ESSAYS, CARDS.  He had a worn out piece of paper in his hands. He said to me, “I want to read you something.” He started reading a poem from one of our kids…but he couldn’t finish it.  We read it [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.stepcoupling.com/2011/01/memories-in-a-file-folder/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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