Reply To: “My Boyfriend Doesn’t Want to Be a Stepdad”

I was your kid. My mom was dating someone who adored her and tolerated me. He really didn’t want me around. They broke up (whew!) and she started dating another guy who was thrilled to have insta family. He treated me like a little sister, I wasn’t his kid, but I was family. His entire family lived a few blocks away and treated me like family right away. Suddenly I had extra aunts and grandparents.

I wasn’t into having a second parent, and he patiently put up with a lot of boundaries that I put in place. My mom and he had a kid together (my beloved sister) and he always referred to us as “his daughters”. He was a better dad to me than my own dad (I did tell him this on several occasions when I was an adult).

There are men who are ready to be a parent to any kid. I got super lucky.