In the United States, and perhaps in other countries as well, September 16 has been designated as "Stepfamily Day". A day dedicated to the stepfamily. A day to honor all the StepHeroes out there who choose every day to be parents to ALL the children in their lives.

What will you do to honor your family on this special day? Some communities have picnic celebrations planned. Some blended families choose to spend the day together, as a family, without any electronic devices on for the whole day. Other stepfamilies go to a favorite place with friends and play together. And the vast majority let the day go by as any other day and miss the chance to honor themselves for all the effort and hard work it takes to make a blended family work. Why? Because they do not even know this day exists for them. They are not aware of all the resources out there for them. They believe that they are the only ones who are experiencing what it is like to be in a blended family and they feel all alone.

This could be a great opportunity to reach out to other step and blended families in your community. What would it be like to arrange a spontaneous pot-luck, where you invite two other families you know who are also blended, and ask each of them to invite two blended families that they know. Have some activities planned for the different age groups of children, and plan to meet at a location that can accommodate you all (one of your homes; a nearby park or playground; a community center; …). This doesn't have to be fancy and you do have to spend a ton of money. In fact, you can have each family bring one of their favorite games to play, and see what you discover - how many are the same? How many are different? Which ones have never been played? Which ones are the ones everybody

Emily Bouchard co-authored the ebook Conquering Conflict with her husband Darryl. In the last two years alone, the Bouchards have helped over 3500 people change their lives through their coaching, trainings, and resource-based website, www.blended-families.com. They travel throughout the U.S. and Canada leading workshops for couples, families, communities, professionals, and entrepreneurs who want to understand how to better communicate in their