21 Things No One Ever Tells You About Being a Step-Parent

1 | Learning your boundaries is a process.

A parent's boundaries and a step-parent's boundaries are two entirely different things. And according to parenting coach Tracy Poizner, host of the Essential Stepmom podcast, learning what your boundaries are as a step-parent takes time and patience, as every family is different.

"It's pretty much impossible to know that you've overstepped until you've already done it, and the line is constantly moving. You can overstep a boundary with the kids, with the bio-mom, and with your spouse who is their dad," she explains. "It's pretty much a minefield!"

2 | Sometimes you have to step aside and let the biological parents make the decisions.

Step-parents—especially those who have biological children of their own—have a natural tendency to want to put their two cents in when it comes to parenting decisions. However, Poizner says that step-parents "need to basically unplug [their] inner parenting GPS. The problem with being a step-parent is that there are two biological parents who have all the rights to raising those children as they see fit, and it's very often at odds with what the step-parent would do."

3 | Not everyone recognizes you as a parent.

Just because you see yourself as a bona fide parent doesn't mean that everyone else in your life will. On the contrary, Florida-based licensed clinical social worker Joaquin Martinez, LCSW, notes that step-parents often receive "the added responsibility of being another parent without much of the recognition of being a parent." At the end of the day, just remember that as long as your spouse acknowledges your hard work and devotion to their kids, then it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks or says.

4 | Including your step-kids.

Coming to terms with the fact that your friends don't see you as a real parent is one thing. Accepting that your step-kids don't think of you as part of their family is another beast entirely—one that far too many step-parents are forced to face.

In a Quora thread about the hardest parts about being a step-parent, one step-father named Ashley Eckhoff notes that his biggest issue is "always being a second-class citizen in the family. It is not intentional," he says, "but you are often ... left out of the family narrative or [have] your role minimized."

5 | You're usually met with a lot of resistance at first.

Few people marry into a family and expect their new spouse's children to welcome them with open arms. "When step-mothers come into the picture, they often feel like an outsider and they have to hear the kids bring up their mother consistently," explains Dr. Sherrie Campbell, a California-based clinical psychologist and author of But It's Your Family: Cutting Ties with Toxic Family Members. "You want to love [the kids] but you do not have the same unconditional love for them because they aren't your children."

6 | Step-dads tend to have it a bit easier.

"Step-fathering, on the whole, is much easier," says Dr. Campbell. "Children tend to be fine with them being in the background. They aren't compared to their dad much. Step-kids either see them as fun or as a real non-issue. They also tend to follow his rules automatically for fear of making him angry."

7 | In some cases, the step-parent/step-child relationship can feel "forced."

Another one of the seldom-discussed realities of being a step-parent is "the forced relationship between the step-parent and the child," says Martinez. "Most relationships form organically, and some step-parents try and fast-pace the relationship almost as a way to catch up with the other two parents."

8 | It takes time to develop a real relationship with your step-kids.

Relationships take time to develop, and the step-parent/step-child relationship is no exception. The problem? According to Elisa Robyn, PhD, step-moms and step-dads often have "'Brady Bunch' expectations" when it comes to joining their spouse's family, and these unrealistic expectations only end up making things worse when problems inevitably arise.

"Most families take time to blend and face major issues along the way. We might think that kindness will solve all the problems, but this is not always true," Robyn says.

9 | The age of the child is a major factor.

According to Robyn, "the age of the children" is a major factor in the step-child/step-parent relationship. "Teenagers are usually the most challenging, and children at any age can be accepting or rejecting," she says.

10 | As are the circumstances that led to your involvement in their life.

Think about what led to your involvement in your step-child's life. Did your current spouse get divorced? Did their last partner—and the other biological parent to your step-kids—pass away? If your answer to either of these questions is yes, then Robyn warns that "the circumstances [that led to your marriage] will also influence the reaction of the children to you."

11 | Children of divorce often blame and punish the step-parents for what happened.

"Many children never outgrow the desire for their parents to reunite," says Robyn. And if this is the case with your step-children, then you might find that they "punish" you for the divorce—despite the fact that you weren't a part of their life until well after all the paperwork was signed and finalized.

12 | What you do in the beginning has a lasting impact.

From the way you talk to your spouse to the way you act around the house, everything you do has an impact on your relationship with your step-kids in the long run. And according to Clark and Leah Burbidge, step-parents and authors of Living in the Family Blender: 10 Principles of a Successful Blended Family, one of the biggest influences on your long-term relationship is "[your] interaction with the children from the beginning. Blended family life requires an undeniably higher standard and level of commitment," they explain in a post for Twinmom.com.

13 | You feel protective of your step-kids almost immediately.

"There is very often an even stronger bond to the children that you may not have raised but love very deeply," says Adina Mahalli, MSW, a certified mental health expert and family therapist with Maple Holistics. "Also not widely shared is the intense protective instinct that kicks in almost instantaneously."

14 | Your spouse's bond with their children is most likely stronger than yours as a couple.

Your significant other might have promised 'till death do you part, but at the end of the day, their bond with their children is always going to trump their bond with you. "The alliance between the parent and child in a biological family is potentially stronger (understandably) than the couple," writes psychologist Karen Young on her blog Hey Sigmund. If you want your relationship with your partner and your new step-kids to work, you have to learn to be OK with this fact and avoid getting in the way of the impenetrable parent/child bond.

15 | Your extended family might not see your step-children as yours.

Just because you see your step-children as your own doesn't necessarily mean that the rest of your family will, unfortunately. As Robyn notes, "our extended families will react differently to our step-children. In some cases, they will be part of the family, and in other cases, they will always be seen as our spouse's children."

16 | Discipline is a hot-button issue.

Though beliefs often differ, parents have to be unified in their decision when it comes to disciplining a child. Throw a step-parent in the mix, however, and you have not two, but three different parents who need to agree on the best punishment tactics in order to be effective. "You have to try and mesh your beliefs of discipline with not just one person, but possibly another two people," step-parent Cara Allen explains on Quora.

17 | You are going to argue with your significant other sometimes about their parenting decisions.

"When you become a step-parent, you're thrown into an environment where you were not included in that discussion [of how to parent]," explains Allen. "You may have (and should have) discussed what your parenting responsibilities are as a step-parent, but you have less standing to make those [parenting] decisions."

18 | Your partner's ex becomes a major part of your life.

When you marry someone with kids, you essentially marry their ex, too—at least in a sense. "You may not like your S.O.'s ex, your S.O. may not even like their ex, but being a parent means throwing that behind you and ignoring those feelings (especially in front of the kids!) and parenting together," says Allen. "There are more problems if you fight [with] each other."

19 | The set-up is just as anxiety-inducing for the step-parent as it is for the step-child.

"Don't take it personally if initially your child is reluctant [to bond]," says Dr. Gail Saltz, an associate professor of psychiatry at the Weill-Cornell School of Medicine in New York City. At the beginning, having a new step-parent "is anxiety-inducing" for a child, and so you need to keep this in mind as you allow your relationship to blossom.

20 | There's no "right" or "wrong" way to step-parent.

One of the many good things about being a step-parent is that, so long as you're trying your hardest, you're already doing a good job. Ultimately, "there isn't one right way to be a step-parent," says Dr. Saltz. Her advice? "Try to remove expectations and definitions of success and failure" in order to be the best version of yourself.

21 | It's more common than you think.

If you are about to become a step-parent and are freaking out about the future, take comfort in the fact that step-families are becoming increasingly common. In a 2011 survey from the Pew Research Center, 42 percent of adults noted that they had at least one step-relative, and 13 percent said that they had a step-child. And don't worry about your involvement in your significant other's family's life ruining things: In the survey, approximately 70 percent of adults with step-relatives said they were extremely satisfied with their family life. And for ways to win your step-kids over, try these 12 Fun Family Games Everyone Will Get a Kick Out of Playing.

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