In the summer, we move into our house in Alt Empordà, and the children attend summer camps in a nearby town. This allows them to make friends in the area and gain a broader perspective on people and life in general. All of this changes the pace of our children. In August, Gil will be 14, and many things are changing within him. As a mother, it's up to me to give him the space he needs.

No one prepares you for caring for your partner's children. When falling in love blinds all your senses, you can hardly imagine that, along with that person, other, younger ones will join you who, if all goes well, will end up playing a very important role in your life. It's the beginning of a bumpy road where, through trial and error, those who experience it can experience very contradictory emotions and situations. "Love them as if they were your own... but don't try to be their mother." "You have to be a role model, but setting limits is prohibited" are just some of the phrases that so-called stepparents, or stepparents, as the Association for the Care of Family Diversity prefers to say, must hear.