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reluctantsm

Is it okay to just not feel any connection to a step-child?

reluctantsm
15 years ago

I married my husband after 4 years of dating. He has two children from previous marriages. One is an adult and lives out West. He's an awesome guy and I enjoy being around him. The other is a 14 year old daughter, who, despite my best efforts, I just cannot "get with." I feel no connection to this child, no love, no desire to even be in her life at all. We get along fine, mostly, because to me she's just there. She has a great relationship with her dad and that's awesome but I find myself counting down to the day when she's shipped off to college (she has weekly/weekend visitation with her father) especially now that I'm pregnant with my first child. My husband and I plan to have more. At times, I feel like she's more of an intrusion or hinderance on my dream of an idyllic family. I'm very detached from her and I just go thru the motions of being polite and making small talk when she's around. If her Dad's not home and she is, I make it a point to go out and be somewhere else or go to my room and close the door. I'm not a mean person and I've never been mean to her but...gosh, I hate to say it but if I didn't have to see her ever again, that would be fine with me. I don't feel that way about ANY of his other family members...I love the rest of them to death. Am I a witch? Anyone else feel similarly about their step-children?

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