In the 7 mos of being a step parent, many things have gone through my mind. Such has wth and wtf..... Its alot to wrap your mind around dealing with senseless things. I have never encountered just non empathetic, sympathetic, disrespectful, self centered, lazy, step children. The sad part is that most of the step children have had no solid foundation set for them no direction no guidance given. Basically they were allowed to behave in a manner that is acceptable at home but unacceptable in society. However deemed at school as a holy terror, despite the fact that this young person is definitely a bright person.... But because of the bad behavior of the this young person and the birth parents non ending desire to justify the wrong, its hard for rational adults to get past the juvenile delinquency. After a child reaches the age of 17 it is almost impossible to get them on the straight and narrow after 17 years of no direction... Maybe the no direction or no guidance that is seen is the guilt of something that the birth parent(s)feels to justify..????...that word justify. Or could it be no parenting skills....hmmmmm... I dont know, still trying to understand this chaotic mess...But one thing is for sure that being a step parent is a thankless job.