Family Forum / Parenting / Step Parents / October 2003

I've been a (lurking) member of ASSP since 1994. I am a mother of 2,
stepmother of 2. OD is mine. YD and OS are DH's. And YS is both of ours. The
children are grown now, but they came into my life at an early age. When DH
and I married, my daughter was 5, his son was 4 and his ...

My oldest SD who recently turned 12 has always been emotionally young
for her age. This has resulted in her being the butt of every joke at
school for years now. She is constantly ridiculed and tormented about
every thing she does and says. Rather than her behavior and emotional

If I didn't have to physically walk outside to get my mail, I would think I was
still asleep after working last night, this is just so freaking bizarre.
I got a card from BM.  It isn't ticking and I have not found any white powder
on it, so far.  She has invited me to a Christmas ...

Has anyone started a NG before or know how to do it?  I don't know about
"control messages" (see below).  It's hard for me to post and see messages
on Yahoo, and the ads are a major PITA.  Usenet rocks!!
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I am reading a great book called 'How to Speak Dog' by Stanley Coren.
It does what it says on the tin, really.  All about how dogs communicate
(with humans, other dogs, whatever) and how we can communicate with
them.  I bought it in desperation as we are having problems with one of

I just wanted to let you know that *Ida Mae Tutweiler and the Traveling Tea
Party* arrived a couple of hours ago, and I am already knee deep into it.  This
book is great!  Did you know it even mentions the Queen Mary?  :-)  I am going
to make the recipe for scones later today.

Jennifer,
Weren't you the person asking for movie recommendations a while back?
Did you ever start renting those movies and, if so, do you have anything
to report on your likes/dislikes?

BM just sent the nastiest e-mail to DH about how he's STINGY and CHEAP and
SELFISH and so on (many paragraphs about how much of a jerk DH is and how
angry SD should be with him).  (Caps were hers.)  This is after she left an
incredibly vitriolic voice-mail message on our home ...

Okay, I have something that's been brewing, I'm feeling guilty like it's a
stepchild issue, and I really know it's not.  So those of you with more than
one child (step or bio), can you help me out?
My son's been ill, nothing serious, but he's been requiring a lot of

So, it finally happened.  SD17 is out of here, and maybe for a long time,
but it's okay.  I'M okay, and DH is okay, and the 3 other kids are okay
(though they were subject to SD's rage & I talked a lot with them after the
whole shebang).

Just deleted what Jane said, by accident, but I wantd to add this.
I've been thinking all day about me and Jennifer, ever since she
posted that thing about how she got nasty with me when I was going
through something hard, and then she came back in a blaze of ...

How is the weight thing going?  My friend has lost 20 pounds on a new
diet and I am jealous.
I had a couple days where I had to *really* fight myself last month -
to not get those diet pills that I used to take - but thank goodness I

Okay, I haven't gotten to read any of the group today...I'll be back later
after my date with Sheila.  :-)  Anyway, DH pulled the letter to SD out of
her bag and rewrote it to be short and simple (KISS, right?).  Better???
The revised text...if it were any shorter, it would be a ...

We went to the football game out here last night.  Kayla brought a
friend to spend the night.  They hooked up with the landlord's
daughter (we rent the acreage that we have our mobile home on) and met
a bunch of people.  Afterwards there was an event put on by our church

We talked with SD today, each of us independently and in our own time.
Me, I was driving DS9 and DD5 to the mall for some retail therapy & food
court dining.  DD5 kept saying how much she missed SD17, so I asked DD5 if
she wanted me to call her sister.  DD5 was very excited, and it ...