A stepmom wrote to me recently, glad to read on our site columns from me and contributions from you that helped her realize, with great relief, that she is normal, that what she's feeling doesn't make her an alien, a candidate for the mental ward, or an evil character from a fairy tale. We know that feeling.

We stepmoms try so had, can't help but make mistakes, often face opposition from many sources, and then have to give names to the strange and upsetting new feelings we have. What we began with such promise and hope feels hopeless and dying, and what's worse, sometimes we don't care. We hurt too much and feel too powerless and out of control to have a clue about what to do. But despite the universal problems stepmoms face, we often feel isolated and buy into everyone's decree that we just need to "get over it." And normal feels a world away, but let's take a look at how close it is . . . .

Please join us on our blog for the rest of this month's column. It's here, and please share your advice or experiences that might help the rest of us.

I'm grateful to be a part of your cyberlife, and I appreciate your time and interest every month. Take very good care of yourself :-)