In order to make it clear that this was not directed at any particular person....

I have stayed out of the "soap-box" posts when someone either complains about the other posters or defends themselves against those posters. If you follow me.

This site has been a fabulous help to me in realizing that the stuff I went through and the strange behavior I experienced was not unique to me. I am the mother of 2 grown daughters and have had 2 previous marriages and a lot of relationships, so you could say I am experienced.

But the step-parent thing was new to me, as a "normal" BM who moved on without drama.

As an experienced person, I hope my advice can help those struggling with their marriages or situations. All that crap I went through has to be good for something, right?

I've said some very blunt things on here about our BM, my SKs and my ILs. It felt good to be able to, because in person, I try very hard to be kind and reasonable. For example, I don't swear at people and call them names. I just don't. Some people are a little cruder than I am but hey I figure that's up to them and if I don't like their posts, I don't read them. Can't we just leave it at that? Without the editorials?

And, it has come to my attention that people are being blasted personally. Oh, come on. If you don't like their advice, don't listen. Why are we attacking "our own"? Isn't it bad enough when we get the occasional BM-lurker on here really being a jerk to us?