Susan Wisdom

I wonder how many others arrived at step parenting and blending a family the way I did, by having a solid but ultimately incorrect expectation of what building a modern family would be like. I think my diet of sitcoms from the last 50 years has skewed my perception. Stepcoupling taught me that life isn't a sitcom, and blending families can result in healthy, loving relationships if done right. And there's decades of research on stepfamilies so there need not be any guessing involved. I never show more expected to be in this situation so not having to do it blind is one less worry. One just needs courage and patience.

The final page sums up the key to all of this, the how-to of adjusting to stepcoupling—and life too for that matter—with a piece of advice that's taken me decades to appreciate: Embrace impermanence. show less