What's Your Hardest Transition Right Now?

Helping stepkids adjust between two homes is one of the quieter, less-talked-about parts of stepfamily life. Here's what that transition actually looks like, up close.

After months on the road in our RV, Bernard and I finally returned home. The air felt different—cooler, quieter. The seasons were shifting from summer to fall, and so, it seemed, was everything else.

It reminded me that life is always about transition.

Some transitions we can plan for—kids leaving for college, a new job, retirement. We have time to prepare, to imagine what life might look like on the other side.

Other times, we're thrown into change with no warning, scrambling to adjust as best we can.

As stepmoms, we see this up close. Our stepkids often shift between homes every week or every other weekend. It's easy to forget how hard that can be. They're not "visiting." This is their home too—but emotionally, that's not an easy switch.

They might worry about forgetting their homework, their soccer shoes, or even feel guilty for enjoying themselves at your house. Different routines, different food, different boundaries—it's a lot of change for a young person to carry.

And yet, we expect them (and ourselves) to adapt seamlessly.

I thought about that during a past RV trip when I forgot my laptop power cable—a $140 mistake. And I'm an adult who's traveled a lot. If I can forget something so simple, imagine how it feels to be a child packing their world into a backpack every few days.

Transitions—big or small—ask us to be patient, flexible, and kind with ourselves and others.

What transitions are you navigating right now—in your family, your relationship, or your own life? What's been hardest for you?

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