Being a Stepmom to a Teenage Girl
Being a stepparent can be difficult as well as challenging. Being a parent to a teenager can be tough as well. When you combine the two, it makes for a pretty hard time. This is especially true for stepmoms and their teenage stepdaughters. Here are some tips to make the challenge of being a stepmom to a teenage girl a bit easier.
Support her relationship with her mom– It is important that you, as the stepmother, support the relationship your stepdaughter has with her biological mother. Even if you may feel jealous of the relationship, it is important to understand that is her mother. By supporting your stepdaughter’s relationship with her biological mother, it shows that you respect their relationship and you have your stepdaughter’s best interest at heart.
Allow their father to do the disciplining– Anytime a stepparent jumps in and starts disciplining the children, the stepparent usually ends up getting resented because of it. Be sure to allow their father to appropriately discipline his children. If you notice your stepdaughter doing something wrong, tell your husband so he can address the issue himself.
Have family night together– You are all a family so set aside one night a week as family night and do something as a family. You don’t have to go out and spend a ton of money. You can go to dinner or to the movies, or stay home and watch a movie or play board games. Just something that allows you as a family to spend quality time together.
Spend time with them alone– While it is great to have family night, it is also important that you spend one-on-one time with your stepdaughter. Find something that you both like to do, such as playing tennis or attending concerts, and set aside time to enjoy it together.
As a step-child I can say that I love these tips. My step-father is an amazing man. To take on a partner with ready made family takes courage as it’s not always an easy journey. Especially the teenage years!
I love this. I have two amazing step parents, and they never treated me differently than their bio-kids. We are still super close and they love my kids no differently than their biological grandkids.
I can’t say that I know anything about having a step parent, but I am in a blended family. My husband is not my oldest daughter biological daughter. She will be 18 now, and he is the only father figure she has had since she was 2. I will say that I don’t agree with the discipline. I think that’s on a family basis. I couldn’t have raised her without his help and his discipline to her along the way. It may make a huge difference since he is the only father she has ever known…and he has been there since she was 2.
This are some great tips. I don’t know much about being or even having a step parent, I was one of the few kids I knew who’s parents stayed together. That being said my sister has had various step parents (half sister) . Our father married my mother when she was quite young and her mother has remarried twice since she and my father divorced which would give my sister 2 step-dads and one step mom and I feel like it was things like this that gave her a better relationship with my mother than the two step-fathers.
This must be so difficult I can’t even imagine. My mum was always helping my half-siblings when we were little but they never truly appreciated her. It’s such a hard task! x
I know my sister in law struggles with this. She often fights with her husband when it comes to disciplining his daughter.
I’m not a stepmom but I can imagine it’s one of the toughest jobs in the world, especially to a teenage girl!
With the rise of divorce over the past few years, this is probably a very common role for many women. I hope they find this post. It seems very helpful and useful information.
Supporting her relationship with her mom is so important. I think the fact that you prioritize that speaks volumes about how dedicated you are.
I often joke with my mom that I’m amazed she didn’t kill my sister and me when we were teens. Sometimes we were nightmares so I can only imagine how hard stepmoms have it. My bestie has two stepkids and she did a great job cultivating a loving and supportive relationship from the start.
I wish my stepmother had followed these tips when I was young! We would have had a much better relationship. It’s not an easy job for sure but can be just as important as biological parents. A kid can never have too many loving and caring parents! Being a step parent is a gift.
I can’t imagine how tough it is to co-parent or be a step-parent! It’s so great to see people who do what’s best for the kiddos!
This is all such great sound advice. My parents divorced and I wish their significant others/later partners had read something along these lines!
Great tips and advice. Showing love and care are the keys. As well as being a friend with them.
I have no experience with this, whatsoever. But it’s important to put the kids first, no matter what. These are very good tips for step parents out there.
These are great tips!! My boyfriend and I have one child together and I have one from a previous marriage and he does all of these things with my son. Now, he also disciplines but my son doesn’t hold any resentment because normally I’m the more strict one haha.
I love your first one. I have never been in a situation where I’ve need these but I’ve had friends whose kids hate the stepmom and I think it’s so sad for the entire family as a whole. Working on it is so important
These are good tips. Especially the respecting the relationship with the mother and spending time one on one.
I can’t even imagine what it’s like to make a decision to become a stepmom! I once dated a man who had a son and I realized that the commitment is so big and I wasn’t able to handle it.