Blended Family
It is true that children should respect their elders and appreciate their parents. This is an area where parents may occasionally run into difficulty with their children, but the issue seems to become even more intense in the case of stepparents.
-By Gwen Randall-Young
August 24, 2024
It is a touchy area, because most stepparents want to be liked and respected by their partner's children. However, the step-parenting relationship is different than being a biological parent. You cannot demand to be treated in a particular way, because that will only exacerbate an already difficult situation.
If the children instinctively like you, respect and appreciation are generally not issues. Usually when they are, it is because of underlying tension between the stepparent and the stepchildren. Sometimes an ex-partner is resentful of the new spouse, and the children show their loyalty by being cool to the new partner. Alternatively, the children may resent the newcomer, if they have had a period of time when they had Mom or Dad all to themselves.
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