No matter what kind of a relationship you have with your stepkids' mom, most likely you expected a bad one -- complete with animosity, jealousy, bitterness, anger, stress, lack of cooperation, hair-pulling (well, maybe not that) -- basically anything but genuine friendship and respect. Hopefully you were pleasantly surprised, or if not, maybe you've been able to build the kind of relationship that stuns your family and friends. Maybe you're just trying to hold on and see if that idea in your life will ever materialize.

Enter Jill (the stepmom) and Kathy (the mom), two women who know the best and worst of each other while love prevails. They collaborate on their blog, The DHX: The Doughtie Houses Exchange, and this month and next, share with us what it's like to defy all expectations and preconceived notions to make "stepmother" and "ex-wife" not such dirty words anymore. Let's meet them:

Please join us on our blog for the rest of this month's column. It's here, and please share your advice or experiences that might help the rest of us.

I'm grateful to be a part of your cyberlife, and I appreciate your time and interest every month. Take very good care of yourself :-)