Today I want to tell you a story about something that happened to me a while ago… I was at an event, working towards my life mission to help as many Stepmoms as possible.
Whenever I’m invited to an event I try to show up, because I know you guys are there and I’m trying to help as many of you as I can. It was a live event that was simultaneously being streamed online.
I was talking to Stepmoms, doing my thing, being a cheerleader for blended families like I always I am, and giving out my contact information. In a matter of minutes, I got a new email. It was a new stepmom! I was so excited. I said to myself: “Yes! I get a chance to help another Awesome STEPMOM”.
So I open up the email and she was like: “I don’t like the term Stepmom, I’m a Bonus mom, I’m glad you’re interested in getting to know us more as stepmoms, I took your quiz, but I couldn’t finish it” I won’t go into all the details, but it caught me off guard.
I felt terrible, I’d cursed this woman by simply referring to her as a stepmom, but as I felt bad for what I’d done, I realized I hadn’t done anything wrong and that was exactly my mission, changing the connotation of the word Stepmom.
It is a term that’s been present in my life for as long as I can remember, it doesn’t make me feel one way or the other. It’s what others think about the term what makes it so hard to grasp, I remember introducing my Stepmom and now when my kids introduce me, others get that look like “Is it ok to like her or not?”
It’s up to us to change that and I’ve made it my personal mission to change that.
Comment below, what do your (do I dare say it) stepkids to call you, or how you like to introduce yourself when you’re with them?
