Fallout from Stepfamily Life

Sometimes, stepfamily life can be stressful. Let's be honest here, sometimes it is more than just "sometimes"...sometimes it is all the time for a few years. In fact, I would say it is one of the hardest things I have ever done. Between dealing with my husband's ex (and others), the behavioral problems of a stepchild, and the financial strain of trying to support two homes, I'm surprised I haven't drank myself into addiction and needed to enter one of the alcohol rehabs.

I don't have an addictive personality for self-destructive habits, unless you consider Pepsi and chocolate self-destructive. I dealt with my stepfamily crises by turning it inward which resulted in my eventually overloading on anger and becoming depressed. I kept a therapist in expensive shoes on more than one occasion in the last 13 years!