The Lochbaum Family

I'm sure I'm like most of you, I have friends in all different stages of motherhood; some of my friends are just starting with motherhood, some are in the toddler stages, some are of school age kids, high school kids, college kids, and some are even grandmas!!  As a parent of two 20+ years old and one 16 year old my view of parenthood has changed.  I remember when my biggest worry was will my son ever be potty trained? Now, I worry will my child make smart choices after graduation? Do they think they should have one or two drinks? Will they check their phone while driving? Just to name a few. I miss the days they would sit and read books, watch cartoons, or even just come and give you a hug for no reason. When your kids are young we look at them and see that they might be a doctor, a lawyer, a teacher, or a pastor. We see all the endless possibilities. No one looks at their child and think they should be a mom the age of 19, they will date someone who treats them poorly, they

Now, I have your attention! No, we aren't having another baby but we have added another person to our family!   We have been host family for 7 years and have signed up for our 8th one! Hosting has been a great experience for our family. However, if our children wasn't on board then we couldn't have done it.  As parents we love it but our jobs don't change that much, we are just fixing dinner for one more person, going to one more sporting event, loving one more child. Our children are the ones making them feel welcome in our family, answering the strange questions that the student don't want to ask the parents, explaining why the parent might be upset if they told them to do something for 10 times and it's still not done, helping them fit in at school, and bonding with the student. I have joined our AFS local chapter so now I'm the chapter chair where I look and educate host families. I love talking about our experience and love matching families with stud

I have been thinking so much lately about step-parenting, is it because our daughter is 22 years old and needs us less or am I thinking what is next for me in our relationship? Yes you did notice I called her "Our" daughter. I have always done thing unless someone has known me as a young child then they would look at me like where did this child come from? I would still say we refer to her as "Our" daughter.  How do you know if you were or are a successful step parent? I don't think there is a grading scale that you can grade yourself and get 100%. I used to think if we had a great relationship with the child and bio parent and we were doing great! However, in the end it really is just the child that counts. So, if you have a working relationship that involves trust, honesty, love, and laughs with your stepchild or bonus child then I think you are doing great!  Recently, I have seen a different side to step-parenting; my sister in law is a bio parent to my