My three step-kids all call me "Mom" or "Mommy," which I love and their bio-mother is OK with. (Don't even get me started, because I would freak the hell out if my kids called another woman Mom, but whatever... not what this post is about.) I love these kids like my own and they can call me whatever they want.
Anyhoo...
In conversations with other people, I hate referring to them as my step-kids, but it's confusing to just say mine when all of our kids' ages (I have two) overlap.
Does anyone else have creative alternative names to replace "step" when referring to your blended family?
Why do you hate saying stepkids? it's what they are.
Embrace "step." It doesn't have to be a dirty word.
Nothing wrong with calling them stepkids, that is what they are to you. I call mine "stepkids" because that is what they are to me. And when referring them as my kid's siblings, i use the name "half-sister & half-brother" because that is what they are to my kids, they are their half-siblings. Nothing wrong with using the right terms.
Quoting mamabear484:
Nothing wrong with calling them stepkids, that is what they are to you. I call mine "stepkids" because that is what they are to me. And when referring them as my kid's siblings, i use the name "half-sister & half-brother" because that is what they are to my kids, they are their half-siblings. Nothing wrong with using the right terms.
I understand your point to the "half-sibling" but when my DHs ex tried that in court the JUDGE told her the courts don't see things like that. Her brother is her brother. Other than stepmother and stepfather, the courts don't recognize anything other than the relationship (grandma, grandpa, brother sister-not stepgrandmother, half-brother), at least in my state.
When we are together and are introducing the family, we say "these are our children" because that is what they are, "our" being his and mine. We don't feel the need to differentiate those are his, these are mine. Our oldest 3 are teens and they (the teens) actually get insulted when we have said "these are mine." They have expressed to us that they are a family unit, they are brothers, so they are our children. My SSs mother does the same thing when she introduces her kids, as she has a SD, so she doesn't care about our terminology.
Many times my SD4 (from EW2) has been told "let Mommy..." when referring to me. She has never once corrected them. She may in the future and that's fine. We had one "you're not my mommy" incident and it was when I was alone with her and she did something wrong. I corrected her and she said "you're not my mommy, I only have one mommy and she said you can't tell me what do do." I replied "That's correct that I am not your mommy but I am your stepmom and you do have to listen to the rules in this house." She started asking questions about the difference and I basically said a mommy is the mommy whose belly you grew in and a stepmom is the lady who is married to your daddy. She accepted it and has never again told me I couldn't tell her what to do. DH also corrected mom and said that she needs to stop putting her insecurities onto my SD relationship with me.
They think she took him and ran...
- YourCrazyMom
on Jul. 20, 2012 at 10:59 PM