I just wanted to start a positive thread about good times with step kids!(assuming there is such a thing!)
Since I'm starting it off I'd like to talk about something that made me feel good, and that came from SD7. When she was about 4 I got a ginger bread house at the store at Christmas time. I had never done one before and thought it sounded like fun for me and SD to give it a whirl.(this was in the before time when I still tried hard to do things to make her happy) So we did it. She seemed unimpressed, and was mostly into eating the candy before she put in on the house. With my stary eyes I forgot how little she cared the year before, and did the same thing next year. Once again we put it together, and although she was a little more interested at 5, candy was the big hit. Thinking it would be a treasured family tradition "someday" the following year I bought another one. We did it together, and she was much more interested in helping and decorating. Last Christmas her class made a list of favorite holiday memories. Number one on her list was making candy houses with me :). Just found that list on the floor in her room and put it in my drawer with cards and letters. For once, thank you SD7!