I've been with my husband for 5 years and have two step children who are 7 and 4, so I've been in their lives since they were very young (2 and a baby). I've always had a good relationship with the children but the children's birth mother has constantly put rotten thoughts into the children's heads about myself and my husband, going so far as to have the children call my husband by his first name and telling them that they aren't to love me etc. This has been an ongoing issue since the beginning but seems to have been slowing down recently, or so I thought. The children are getting baptised this year and part of the process is homework assigned to them. I was helping the eldest complete this homework and the question in.larticular that really hurt my feelings was a simple "list the members of your family." He listed mommy and daddy and the pets and siblings but neglected to mention myself or his step father. I asked him what about myself and his step dad and was met with the response "Do I have to?" I know that kids will be kids but took this as a personal rejection because any sort of resistance of this nature prior to this incident was in the form of "I can't because mommy...." or some similar response. The children live with their birth mom and step dad Monday to Friday and my husband and I Friday night to Monday morning and their step dad has been met with open arms. They call him daddy etc and although I've been in their lives longer, they refer to me by my first name. I know the children love and respect me but I can't help feeling jealous of their relationship with their step father and slightly rejected by actions such as the aforementioned. I've always treated the children as my own and although my husband is completely supportive and corrects the children when such situations arise, I can't help but feel as though my efforts are in vain and that I'm not being accepted as a member of the family, if not as a parental figure, in the children's minds. Help