For years, my stepchildren treated me like their real mom, but everything changed when their biological mother reappeared. They pushed me to my limits until I decided to leave. Days later, they were begging for me to come back.
I’ve been married to my husband, Tommy, for six years. He has 16-year-old twins, Jack and Lily, whose mother had been absent from their lives since they were eight.
When Tommy and I got together, we attended family therapy, and I made it clear I wasn’t there to replace their mom. We wanted to ensure that my entry into their lives was smooth and didn’t harm the children’s mental and emotional well-being.
Everything was wonderful for the past six years, largely thanks to therapy. The twins even started calling me mom around age 12 or 13. However, things took a turn for the worse in recent months.
Their biological mom, Maggie, came back into their lives. The kids were hesitant at first but soon became excited to have her back. I was also happy to see the twins build a relationship with their biological mom.
However, after about six months of spending time with Maggie, they began calling me by my real name, Carol. It hurt, but I never questioned it. It was their right to call me by my first name since the title of “Mom” belonged to someone else.
But things got worse from there. They started being very disrespectful to me, ignoring me when they came home late, no longer following curfew, stopped cleaning up after themselves, and began talking back to me. The most painful part was when they emphasized that I wasn’t their real mom.
Three weeks ago, there was a big blowup where the twins CALLED ME NAMES. I tear up every time I remember them cussing at me. They even accused me of being the reason why their parents separated, which was false since I only met Tommy two years after the breakup. When I stood my ground and got mad at them for being disrespectful, they left to live with Maggie.
Tommy knew what had happened and didn’t back me up. He said nothing to his children and claimed it was their right to live with their mother if they wanted to. I felt heartbroken and disrespected.
