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As a step parent, doubting yourself and feeling sick either just before your stepchildren come over or just after they leave is not uncommon. Most people are driven from a place of goodness and ideals. But such dreams and situations are sometimes shattered by stepchildren’s behaviour- no matter how old they are! The fact that […]

  The last Sunday in July is National Stepfamilies Day – a day which recognises and celebrates the many different family types in Australia and acknowledges the important role stepparents can play in childrens’ lives. It might be a new concept in Australia, but the day has been recognised in the United States and other […]

Guest Blogger: Karalee Katsambanis Ask anyone and they’ll tell you that parenting is a challenge at the best of times. Stepparenting, shared parenting, coparenting and blended families are becoming more and more common around the world. Here are my top 10 tips for you, if you start feeling a little overwhelmed. You will not be […]

drummond street services is still supporting families during this very challenging time. We provide a range of services and programs to support children, young people, families, relationships and communities.

COVID-19 Response: We are here and not going anywhere, but how we stay in touch, deliver services may change as the community grapples with responding to COVID-19. This is a message to all drummond street service users, communities, sector friends, community organisations, support groups and suppliers. drummond street services want to reassure you we will […]

Teenagers are probably the most challenging when creating a new stepfamily – here are some tips for them to help them adjust to their new family!

Recognising ‘ALL’ Stepmothers/Other Mothers/ Spare mothers/ on Mother’s Day May 12th Posted by: Phoebe Wallish There are over a million of us living in step and blended families Anyone willing to take on the care of another’s child deserves our appreciation and recognition! Step and blended families start off as strangers however with care, patience, […]

Generally we have the care of my step sons every second weekend, give or take special days, school holidays or when alternative arrangements are made by my Husband and the boy’s mum. If I am brutally honest I find I take longer than I would like to adjust to the boys being in our home and even longer to re-adjust when they leave.

I absolutely love Yoga, not that I’m particularly good at it but since Year 11 in high school I’ve practiced it in different class settings for various periods of time. I always knew I wanted to try a pre-natal yoga class when I was pregnant and I loved it so much I returned to a class when my baby was about 3 months old.

Contemporary Australian families look significantly different to what they did a generation ago. Step and blended families are our fastest growing family types and face unique difficulties over this so called “most wonderful time of the year”.

I have always been an incredibly sensitive and emotional person, well before I met my future husband and his three boys. So the feeling of guilt was not unknown to me, however in the role of step mum I feel guilty so often.

The other day I had to make the dreaded trip into the Medicare office as my Husband and I decided we wanted ourselves, and all our children, on the same card. I had phoned Medicare and found out that this was possible and the forms that were required.

A huge slice of my step mum experiences can be put into the ‘this is out of my control’ box. Arguably a lot of our lives are out of our complete control however this feeling can be incredibly frustrating.

I recently wrote a Facebook post, celebrating my son’s six month milestone and thanking my ‘village of people’ for all their help. What I meant by this was the support I received from my village: my husband, step sons, mum, sister, other family members, girlfriends, the child health nurse etc during out first few months.

On Monday 3rd September 2018 Phoebe Wallish our Executive Officer at Stepfamilies Australia was asked to join Kelly Chandler author of The Other Mother (an extremely honest and humorous memoir, you can purchase the book here) to chat to Phil Clarke on ABC Nightlife.

When school’s out, kids will play – unless the weather is bad. But rainy days don’t have to ruin your child’s fun. Shake them up with fun activities to build their brains and burn their energy. Here are some smart ways to get kids moving and learning on a rainy day.

How do we acknowledge the hundreds of thousands of Australians who are either living in or are a part of a stepfamily?! Did you know we have a NATIONAL STEPFAMILIES DAY?? It is held every year on the last Sunday in July, this year that will be Sunday 29th July!

Step and blended families are the fastest growing family type with 1 in 4 families now spending some time in a step or blended family. This Mother’s Day will be a very different experience for the 40,000+ women around the country who are step mums involved in raising other people’s children and make extraordinary sacrifices every day in doing so.

In honour of National Families Week 15-21 May, Positive Solutions is hosting a seminar to assist all kinds of modern Tasmanian families achieve successful family relationships. Positive Solutions is a grass-roots Tasmanian Not-for-Profit Organisation that has been providing support to our community for nearly 30 years, adapting to the changing needs of Tasmanians.

Contemporary Australian families look significantly different to what they did a generation ago. There are new and old parents and partners and siblings, not to mention different cultures, religions and traditions –step and blended families face unique difficulties over this so called “most wonderful time of the year”.

National Stepfamilies Day was recognised today! Thanks @ABCTV   National Stepfamilies Day was recognised today! Thanks @ABCTV Posted by Stepfamilies Australia on Sunday, 30 July 2017

Life is hard for a lot of people and, for those in stepfamilies, ‘reality’ can be particularly tricky. It can be all sorts of challenging and all sorts of rewarding, and it is what confronts hundreds-of-thousands each and every day. In Australia, the last Sunday in July (30th) marks National Stepfamilies Day.