Abby Connolly
Building a relationship between a step-parent and a step-child seems challenging. For many people, it’s not something that comes naturally.
One man has been with his girlfriend, a mom of two, for over a decade but still does not feel a parental connection to her two children.
He is 32-years-old and has been with his girlfriend, Amy, for 12 years. Amy has two children, a 15-year-old daughter named Anna and an 18-year-old son named Nick.
Unfortunately, their biological dad is not in the picture. Although he’s lived with Amy and her kids for nine years, he doesn’t feel like their father figure.
What’s sad is that not only does he not feel like their father, but he claims not to even like Amy’s kids that much.
Anna and Nick never started seeing him as their actual father, but they’ve been comfortable living with him over the last nine years.
However, he does not want to be their ‘replacement father.’ He would much rather be seen as “mom’s boyfriend,” a more casual figure in their lives.
Amy and her kids have begun to have an issue with his behavior, as he doesn’t step up in moments when they could use a supportive father figure, despite how long he’s been in their lives.
For instance, at one of Anna’s ice-skating events, he went with Amy to support her. As they were watching her from the stands, a woman leaned over to him and asked if she was his daughter.
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