The Stepmommy Diaries
Updated: 4 days ago
Marrying a man with children comes with a great many surprises. Four surprises to be exact, two of those are 4 and 5 years old. We will call them Cutie 1 and Cutie 2.
The fact is that my Additional Babies (Cutie 1 and Cutie 2) were hard to love. I know that sounds harsh but it’s true. It was hard to develop a bond, with munchkins that I could not keep. Afterall, how could I love something that was not mine? I couldn’t answer that.
Each hello was exciting, nerve-racking and bittersweet because I knew that whatever we taught them would have been forgotten by their next visit or not practiced while they were gone. I knew their visit would be temporary and I had to guard my heart and not become attached.
Being the Stepmommy was not all that I had imagined. My expectations were crushed by the reality of the situation. After a not-so-fun day with Cutie 1 and Cutie 2, I sat on the toilet and thought of how maybe we had all misunderstood Snow White’s Stepmom. She got such a bad rep! At that time I could completely relate to her.
I can think of some of the times when Cutie 1 and Cutie 2 thought I was the Wicked Witch of the West:
Say ‘Please’ and ‘Thank you’. No, you may not talk to your daddy as if you are his boss. You must show respect in the manner you speak to him and always be kind to him.
Yes, you must clean after yourselves. Even in the wee ages of 4 and 5, you must pick up and help around the house. This may be your temporary house but it is still your house and you must maintain it cleaned and picked up.
When inside, use your inside voice. Getting your jitters out is cool but be considerate of others. Ohh look we have a backyard!
Your job is to play and learn. Electronics are not your sole source of entertainment, revert to #3…look at that awesome backyard.
You must read and write or scribble or draw. This will help you immensely as an adult and will make school more bearable.
No gossiping! Playing mommy against daddy is not nice. They both love you immensely all all they ask is for love and respect.
The relationship between me and my additional babies is one of the hardest I’ve ever had to work on. I can honestly say that it did not come naturally.
It took me a while,
To get into the rhythm of two munchkins coming and going
Splitting my affection between my own teenager Munchkin and them
Accepting that my Prince Charming had others he split his love with
Letting go of the little things that bothered me but I could not change
Accepting their personalities, which are so different from mine and my own teenager Munchkin.
It’s a fine balance, almost like a dance being a Stepmommy. To love but not overstep, to be there but not take over the role of the mother, to accept their natural personality but groom them to be a better version of that.
I’m still learning, I’m still growing. Thing 1 and Thing 2 are helping, Prince Charming is helping, my own Munchkin is showing me how. Everyone is so patient as I learn and get use to this new role and its lovely. Wish me luck as I step intoThe Stepmommy shoes.