Only stepchildren
I am a stepfather to a teenage girl. She is an only child, who is spoilt as you would expect. I have been a stepfather twice now, with two boys from a previous marriage, who I never had a problem with as their mother always respected my views and in most cases backed up what I said. Although there were arguments, the boys respected me and I think I did a good job of being a stepfather. I met my stepdaughters mum when my stepdaughter was young and I tried to play the role of stepfather without being too over attentive and left the discipline to her mother. But now she is a teenager things are beginning to change as she now has a voice and the inteligence to manipulate a situation. My wife is becoming 'soft' and wants to take my stepdaughters side ever time. As you know with teenagers, this is always a bad period in which you need to gain their respect, but I find it impossible as my wife will not support me. I am not saying that my stepdaughter is bad, but as we all know they will test all of your patience. I feel that my relationship will soon be coming to an end as I am feeling more and more like an alien in my own home, without any respect. My stepdaughter lives on planet X and as with all teenagers thinks that the world revolves around them, with my wifes help. At the moment we have a one sided family which cannot work for me or my stepdaughter. I must admit that my wife did warn me that my stepdaughter was her priority, but I never thought it would get this bad. I think it's time to cut loose as I am now in my 50's and ageing fast in this relationship. Give me some help!!!