When I was first planning to become a stepmom, I scoured the library and the web for helpful information. I was like a first-time parent devouring What to Expect When You're Expecting. Obviously, neither biological nor stepparents can fully prepare themselves for the reality of what's to come, but we sure are determined.
I read everything there was to read till I started running out of search terms for Google. Then, one day, sick of all the negativity out there (and, when it comes to stepparents and stepparenting, there's a lot), I tried out a new question on Google. "What's the good part about being a stepmom?" And you know what comes up? "10 Brutal Truths About Being a Stepmom." "The Six Hardest Things About Being a Stepmom." "Life As a Stepmother is No Fairytale -- I feel sorry for my wife." (Not that these articles aren't helpful; it's super important as a stepmom to be in touch with reality.) When I did find someone listing a few good things about being a stepmom, it was usually just about how you didn't have to do the dirty work of parenting and could escape the chaos of kids at your convenience. Hardly a consolation prize for a group of women who usually would rather just gain insider status in their own families.
So I set out to discover just what it was about stepmomming that was "the good part."
