Recently, while doing some investigative research about stepparenting (a.k.a. goofing off on the internet), I stumbled across this list on the website, Stepdivas. The list is a “to do” list of sorts for husbands from their wives in regards to the role of their wives in the family unit. Perhaps the instruction that resonated most strongly with me was the following:

Please talk to me before you agree to change the visitation schedule. I may have plans for us, or I may just have PMS, but I need advance warning to get ready. Remember, for me, when they come over, it is like having company. I need time to prepare.

This is probably the issue that comes up most frequently in our home because I am very much the type of person who likes to know what is going to happen, when (This is the point in the post where I tell you that I had my best friend Fed Ex my planner to me in Hawaii ON MY HONEYMOON because I felt totally lost without it). My husband, however, is a little less rigid with his schedule and while it’s awesome that he can be flexible and tell my stepson’s mother, “Sure, we can trade weekends, no problem!”, it usually makes me crazy. I plan the weekends, the menus and our activities – and our head count matters.

What constructive advice would you have to offer husbands (let’s be nice, ladies…) on how to make this stepparenting gig easier for us?

Photo credit: Daily Invention on Flickr