7 Important Lessons That Raising Someone Else’s Children Taught Me
Lessons that you can read, instead of gaining the hard way.
There was a period in my life during which I felt drawn to older women. I had a few mommy issues and I was disappointed in girls my age or younger due to their immaturity. Thus, I decided to opt for more mature partners. Older women, however, tend to come with children from earlier.
Although being far from ready for kids, and even less for someone else’s kids, I embraced the role of stepdad — twice, actually.
The merits of those relationships seemed to outweigh the accompanying responsibilities and complexities. So, I dove in headfirst.
I had just started my university studies and I was 20 when the first of those relationships dawned. The second one kicked off when I was 25 and recovering from the former.
It’s safe to say that neither of those was a particularly wise choice. But I actually learned quite a bit about kids, relationships, and love from my 8-year step-parenting venture. Two kids and two relationships later, this period is over now — but I still remember quite a few important observations.
They are as follows:
- The responsibility of the unrelated adult
