3 Assumptions About Stepmoms - That Don't Always Ring True

Assumptions will be made.

Photo by Rachel McDermott on Unsplash

1. You’re A Homewrecker

Certainly, any woman who becomes a stepmother MUST have had something to do with the breakup of the previous relationship that produced the children she is stepparenting — right?

Not necessarily, no.

A great portion of women who became stepmothers did so long after their stepchildren’s biological parents split up.

There’s a common misconception out there that stepmothers somehow destroy harmonious relationships or marriages and break up families. Stepmothers often inherit the scattered pieces of an already broken family dynamic.

Though some stepmoms do step into their role using an illicit affair and have indeed encroached upon a marriage, more often than not a stepmom arrives on the scene in the aftermath of a family that has already broken up.

Unfortunately, these facts don’t always absolve stepmoms from carrying the blame for breaking up a family — even if she didn’t.

It’s normal for a stepmom to bear the brunt of the blame associated with the ending of something painful and perhaps not even accepted by everyone in the family yet.