How My Step Daughters Toppled My Great Big Daddy Ego
Yeah, Doug Zeigler kisses his sons. But it’s been a more complicated road to affection with his step daughters.
By Doug Zeigler
Last week I wrote about how I kiss my sons freely and openly. But this? This is about something that often is fraught with emotional landmines. This is about sharing affection and love for step-daughters.
It’s second nature for me to be affectionate to our boys. I’ve been that way since the beginning when they were wee babies. After I divorced, I met the woman that would come to be the inimitable Clark to my Lewis in our travels throughout this life. As our love evolved and grew, there was a new challenge presented to me with whom I had no experience: Jillian has two daughters.
To me, raising sons was easy. I’m a man, and I used to be a boy. I can relate. Girls though… Not a clue. I’m not ashamed to say it scared the hell out of me. I had immediate visions of emotional breakdowns, major attitude issues, not loving me because I’m not their biological dad, and not willing to accept my help as they navigate the peaks and pitfalls of dating when the time came. Most importantly, I was afraid they wouldn’t love me and any affection expressed would be off the table. I didn’t want to be…
