I know some stepmothers are awful, and those are the ones we tend to read about on Mumsnet because they’re making problems, but having read some truly awful things on here I wanted to post about my DCs’ stepmother, who is an amazing and wonderful person.
XH and I split 10 years ago when our DCs were 7, 5 and 4. He wasn’t and isn’t a bad man; we were just wrong for each other. Although the split itself was hard, and we don’t always agree on parenting choices, I have always known that he had our DCs’ best interests at heart and so was coming from a good place when we didn’t immediately see eye to eye.
I’m not sure when he met his now-wife (I’m
going to call her Anne, not her real name). The DCs met her about a year after XH and I had split, and I met her not long after. From the first moment I saw her it was clear that (a) the DCs liked and were comfortable around her and (b) she and XH are much better suited together than we ever were.
Over the past 9 years, she has been nothing but a huge positive in the DCs’ lives. She manages the difficult balance of being a responsible adult figure in their lives without trying to be their parent. All three open up to her in a way they don’t with XH or me. I’m so pleased and happy that she’s a part of their lives. The more people who love and look out for my DCs the better, as far as I’m concerned.