thestepcardcollection

We’ve just completed two years since the launching of www.thestepcardcollection.com. While we’ve made changes to the website, our thought process, our plan, the printed card line, and other areas of this business, the one thing that has not changed is the vision we had at the onset regarding the importance of our message—the emotions and sentiments expressed between family members is important and unique. We hope you’ve enjoyed our site and our message, and have sent e-cards, written suggestions, read our Step-Forum, and used the facets of the website for your personal growth. We are continually committed to giving you the best information and products to help promote the wellness of your stepfamily. Please let us know your needs. Thank you for your support.

Dr. Rick

MOTHER’S DAY FOR STEPMOMS

As we approach Mother’s Day (May 10th this year) we reflect on what a special person exists in all our lives. Regardless of time or geography, we celebrate the relationship we have with our Mom, even if she’s no longer with us physically. For those of us in stepfamilies, we get to celebrate the relationship with our stepmom, too. Although this relationship may be very different than the one with our biological Mother, it is oftentimes an important one as well. Let’s face it, some of us have developed great relationships with our stepparents over the years, although I’m not naïve enough to think that that’s always the case. The role a stepparent plays is often a difficult one. They almost never take the place of a biological parent, but fill a void left by a divorce or a death. Let me know how you celebrate Mother’s Day. What kind of relationship have you developed with your Stepmother over the years? Can you celebrate Mother’s Day for your Mom and your Stepmom? On May 10th let’s celebrate Mother’s Day for all Mothers!

Dr. Rick

Check us out on YouTube!

Friendship - the hard times....

Friendship – the hard times

Sometimes friendship can be hard. Right now one of my best friends is going through treatment for cancer. Six months of treatments every other Monday…we go, we sit, I work, I read or just kill time while mostly she sleeps (thankfully). But this is what friendship is all about, not just the good times and God knows we’ve had lots of those, but the bad times too. She needs me, I’m there, just as she would be (or has been) for me…boyfriends, marriages, divorces, parties, vacations, work outs sickness, death we’ve done it all and will do this…whatever it takes…we’re friends...best friends.

Stepfamilies & the Holiday's

Well the holidays are upon us again. I can’t believe 2008 is almost over. This time of year is especially hectic in our house. We celebrate Christmas and Chanukah (Hey! the more food, the better). My stepkids are both adults so they make their own choices about where to go; or in the case of my stepson, he might not be here for Christmas morning at all, much to our disappointment. We’re probably a lot like many families that have blended religions, personalities, politics, backgrounds, traditions, and a host of other differences to hopefully, come up with a better, more rounded end product. I’m extremely happy that Carmen and my stepchildren have made a special effort to learn about my religion and traditions, as I have made an effort to understand their cultural and familial values. Let’s face it, all in all, we’re pretty much alike as we strive to make our lives full and happy. We overcome and work out minor struggles and conflicts as a part of living and growing together. For the most part, life is good. Now, if we could only settle UM vs. FSU. That really gives us fits!!!

What's your favorite family tradition?

Dr. Rick

Thank you for your insight & honesty re: Fear of Failure

THANK YOU FOR YOUR COMMENTS! To All Of You That Posted Comments Re: Fear of Failure:

Thank you for your insights and personal experiences. The concepts of failing, and conversely success, often generate an array of emotions. What motivates us to succeed is extremely important. I agree with the majority of you who commented that fear of failure often motivates us to successses. Some of our greatest inventors, business people, teachers, doctors, attorneys, politicians (and the list goes on and on) have succeeded after one or many failures. They have learned from mistakes and have been energized by their frustrations and disappointments. Where would we be today without their vision and self-assured drive? Your comments have reinforced that many of us use fearing failure as a positive tool. Fewer are disabled or immobilized by failure, but this phenomenon does occur. As one of you wrote, setting lower expectations helps one avoid failure; is this really a solution?

I appreciate your reading the Step-Forum blog. Carmen and I try to write about interesting topics as much as we can, and we post almost daily so subscribe today! Please also visit our website.

Dr. Rick

The Elections are finally over!

Regardless of how you voted in these elections or how you feel about the outcome I bet you are glad it’s over! I am very politically active, very involved in women’s issues and very passionate and vocal about my opinions in these areas…much more than my other half--Dr. Rick. (The picture above is from the Miami County Commission for Women.)

This year in particular the election cycle has been hard. My family has been divided on the candidates and some of the issues as have some of my friends so this has put an unusual amount of stress on many of our relationships. Dealing with these issues is hard for all of us but in the case of step families where we combine families that may not have the same opinions on political issues it can be a real challenge. It takes a lot of patience, communication, compromise and love to work through it all but with a little effort it can be done. Luckily for our stepfamily we share similar views on most things in our little unit (or at least I think we do) but the extended family is a different story and it’s been tough…I for one am glad that this election is over, we’ve survived it and now we can all move forward.
I hope this change is a positive one and that our country and families will be unified under this new leadership. Step or not it is family that is most important, it’s time to get over our differences and look forward to better times and a brighter future!

How did this election impact your life?

Have a great day,

Carmen (aka the better half)

Getting older is real.

Getting Older.
Is it just a cliche? I don’t think so.
Getting older is real. More forgetful, get tired sooner, can’t stay up as late, can’t eat anything and everything without the Rolaids handy, creaks and aches that come out of nowhere. As my mother used to say, “Getting older is not for sissies!”
On the other hand, better insight, stronger ties to family, more mature attitude (sometimes!), better decision making, higher tolerance for disappointments. This is me. How about you?

Dr. Rick

"Greatness"

I've been watching the Olympics for the past week, as I'm sure many of you have. I'm impressed by the athlete's dedication, commitment, and skill, but also, their teamwork and support of their families and friends. It seems as if each one of them has a contingent of people who love and care about them, regardless of the result. Wouldn't it be great if we all had this unending, relatively unconditional support for us in our endeavors. Wouldn't life be a little easier if there were people cheering for us? Or, maybe like the world-class athlete, we need to muster up our courage, motivation, and drive from within ourselves. An important lesson--although it's nice to have others acknowlege our "greatness," it's more important that we acknowledge it ourselves. Have a week of "greatness."
Dr. Rick

Happy Birthday!

My wife, my stepdaughter, and I are going to Orlando this weekend to see my stepson. It's his birthday on Tuesday so we'll celebrate with him a couple of days early. Along with holidays, special events like birthdays are really tough when a loved one lives out of town. Lucky for us he's only 3 hours away, but I can surely empathize with those of you who have family in other states or even across the country. Of course, I could send him a "stepcard," but delivering our message in person is much better. Happy Birthday Lino!

Send us your favorite Pictures!

Send your favorite pictures to us at carmen@thestepcardcollection.com. We will post them on Dr. Rick’s Step-Forum (we reserve the right to decline inappropriate pictures). Don’t forget to put subtitles with them so we know who you are and where you are! What a great way to share your stepfamily experiences and triumphs with other subscribers. This might also be a good time to share your thoughts and feelings through the Story Page on the website. We always look forward to communicating with you.
Have a great day!
Dr. Rick

Pictures! Enjoy! Send us your photos and we'll place them on our blog!

Cool Stepfamily Father's Day e-Cards

I wanted to share an example of one of the cards I created for Father's Day 2008. I hope you can see it clearly here. The card reads.....

When you married my Mom, I wasn't sure how I felt. I knew we were OK before you got here, but I didn't know what to expect. You make my Mom happy, and that makes me happy. Happy Father's Day!

Let me know what you think - you can see all of the Father's Day cards on my website. If you would like to submit your own sentiments - I will gladly feature them here. Father's Day is June 15th. Don't forget to send your dad a special message!

-Dr. Rick

Father's Day

Father's Day.
Father's Day is June 15th this year. That would be my father's 83rd birthday. A two for one! He passed away 9 years ago tomorrow. We had a great relationship. We played tennis and golf together, although he wasn't that good at either. It didn't matter. I miss him alot, but I'm never sad about it. We talked and shared a great deal (not everything, of course), but enough to know how we felt about each other. My relationship with my
Dad wasn't perfect, or maybe in its way it was. Take the
opportunity to say and do the things with people you love while
you have the chance. To all you Dads and Stepdads out
there--Have a great day!
Dr. Rick

Speaking of Mother's Day - Meet the Mom that started it all!

Hi, I’m Carmen, the better half of Dr. Rick. I brought the kids that created the stepfamily you are reading about on this website…

Ten years ago when Rick & I decided to marry we asked “my kids” (then 14 & 17) for their approval, though they said they were ok with it, the real response I got when Rick wasn’t present was “do we really have a choice?” So we went from there…As hard as it may be for a stepdad (or stepmom I imagine) to walk into a “ready-made family”, it is equally hard for the mom & kids that make up that readymade family to get used to someone new intruding on their space and their lives.

The relationship between us had become the only thing they knew, they were really too young to remember what it was like living with their dad and mom as a family so, we were it! Divorce is hard on everyone, it took a lot of time, love, tears and care to get to where we were at the point Rick came into the picture.

Well, this this is a good start, I look forward to blogging more and finishing this story later in the week. Be sure and check back! Nice to meet you, Carmen - the "Mom"

What are your experiences?

When I first became a stepfather my stepkids were already teenagers. It was extremely difficult to come into the family and be a parent—giving directives, setting limits, enforcing rules—until their mother gave me explicit authority to do so.

I’ve found that this permission is essential to make the relationship work. I can’t say that it worked perfectly, far from it—but it really helped. I wonder if it might have been a bit different if the kids were younger when I married their Mom. What are your experiences? I’d love to hear from you.

Dr Rick

Welcome to my BLOG!

Hi! I am Dr. Rick, and I am new to blogging and being online, but I'm open to learning new things. I've been a Stepfather for 10 years and a Psychologist for almost 20 years. I started writing cards for my Stepchildren when I couldn't find anything else in the marketplace that expressed what I was feeling about them.

Now, I know I am not alone - 1 out of 3

familes TODAY is a Stepfamily. Over the past several months I have taken my cards and my ideas and really developed them. I hired a team of experts to help me get my idea going.

My dream is to share my thoughts and recognition of stepfamiles with the world. So, what does my dream, experts, my wife, all these cards I have written over the years, etc...etc. really mean? It means, I created a website where people can send FREE e-cards to each other - anyone can join. http://www.thestepcardcollection.com/, caters specifically to stepfamilies and their unique emotional and communication challenges and triumphs.

In addition to the website, I really want to share my thoughts, and inspire and motivate others to do the same. Welcome to my blog, feel free to share, inspire and interact with me here. Got a question? Want to share pertinent information, issues, or data with families like yours? "Dr. Rick's Step-Forum is just the place."

Thanks for visiting my blog - feel free to subscribe!

Kind Regards,

Dr. Rick

"Special cards for stepfamilies"

For immediate release: (7 November 2007 - Miami, Florida)

Announcing the online launch of http://www.thestepcardcollection.com/. The premiere, interactive online greeting and sentiment card website loaded with only the best in holiday, occasion and sentiment e-cards designed just for step-families. Finally! A site that specifically acknowledges the feelings, challenges and special situations unique to step-families.

www.thestepcardcollection.com was created by a Psychologist and Step-Father in Miami Lakes, Florida. Newly married, he found that traditional greeting cards were incapable of expressing his true feelings for his new wife and step-children so he began creating his own cards for them. He decided to turn his personal project into a way to help other families with similar circumstances share their unique sentiments.

Catering specifically to step families and their unique emotional and communication challenges and triumphs, http://www.thestepcardcollection.com/ is an accessible, fun and tasteful resource brimming with e-cards, postcards, calendars, birthday alerts, reminders, address book and personal picture and message upload capabilities, family friendly games, and so much more.

A section of particular interest is Dr. Rick's Step-Forum, a featured section of http://www.thestepcardcollection.com/ that is informational, inspirational, and interactive. Have a question for Dr. Rick? Want to share pertinent information or data with families like yours? "Dr. Rick's Step-Forum is just the place.

Designed by progressive Miami & San Antonio based interactive and comprehensive web development force, http://www.iconnect2it.com/, the site touts a bold, modern look and sensible user friendly & innovative, category-specific navigation. Inventive promotional marketing will include ongoing promotional subscription incentives: compelling card images, sound and music scape's, a wide array of background & skin choices, sample e-card and postcard display; and an overall fresh, sophisticated design that showcases the sites expansive selection of quality, relevant e-cards.

Said Dr. Rick, "this website is for everyone who is a member of a step family. I hope this collection of greetings will convey what you, too, have been thinking or feeling."

http://www.thestepcardcollection.com/ was created with you and your special family in mind. Step-families comprise a substantial segment of today's society, but receive very little representation or consideration when it comes to greeting cards.

While traditional families can celebrate holiday's and birthdays with greeting cards that may perfectly express their sentiments, step-families could not - until now. http://www.thestepcardcollection.com/ provides a loving and objective voice for step-family members to address each with sensitivity and sincerity without being too corny or painfully predictable.

Original, relevant and heartfelt step-family cards like you dream about - right at your fingertips.

Welcome to http://www.thestepcardcollection.com/