“My perception is that the trend in the last few years is that parents are doing a better job talking to kids about what it means to have a stepparent. Kids are better informed.” – Ben Ogren, social worker, West Elementary School, Crystal Lake
“It’s a shocker to stepparents that it takes two or three years to build relationships. They think they will automatically love their stepkids and that the kids will love the stepparent.” – Sheryl Overby, youth therapist, Family Service and Community Mental Health Center for McHenry County
“To be successful, we knew we had to deal with the unique problems of stepparenting. … We talk about loyalty, discipline. We learned that other people had the same problems.” – Alice Ertel, Bloomingdale stepparent who helped form a stepparents support group
“We try to steer the stepparent away from becoming authoritative before a relationship of trust is built. But we also have to get the natural parent to allow the stepparent to start taking charge.” Martha Cook, clinical director, Youth Service Bureau, Woodstock
