Let’s not forget about the reason we’re all in stepfamilies: men! What do you think it’s like for your husband to be in this part-wonderful, part-painful arrangement? As the connector for every member in a new stepfamily, many a man feels caught in the middle of the relationships between his children and new wife, and new wife and ex-wife.
It’s impossible to give all the competitors for his attention exactly what they want, so dads often end up feeling as if there is no way to win. When Jake’s two daughters fight with Debra, his wife of less than a year, he feels at a loss.
“To me, it’s ‘Oh my God, how do I fix this? Things were great five seconds ago, and now we have conflict.’ So what can I do to get everybody back to happy as soon as possible? I don’t know what to do sometimes, and I just want to go out in the garage and sit. I don’t do that, but that’s my initial reaction.”
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