Why Many Children Hate Their Stepmother? Part (2)

At first, Georgianne threw herself into the job of parenting the two children who came to live with her and her new husband. “The first year I was really game and gung-ho about it. I cheerfully drove to soccer practice.

I went to fundraisers at school. But all of a sudden I realized, ‘This is crazy.’ I am the primary breadwinner in the family. I outearn my husband three to one. I can’t be counted on for all of this. I was the one who got called by the school and had to go running if a kid missed a bus or they didn’t do their homework.

My husband changed jobs and was working even more, and I was left holding the bag. I was here with them on the weekends taking care of them when I should have had time off. I finally sat my husband down and said, ‘Our marriage is suffering.’” Part of the issues Georgianne and her husband were facing revolved around expectations: what her husband wanted her to do and what she expected herself to do.

After three years of living with Dad and Stepmom full-time, the children moved back in with their mother. “It’s not because they are not loved here or wanted here, it’s because I can’t be expect ed to make those sacrifices for them. It’s mostly because my husband wasn’t able to step up to the plate and take responsibility. It’s disappointing to me that this was his solution: ‘It’s not working so we’ll send them back to their mother.”