Hello!
My story...
My partner's son is 6 and I've been in his life for almost 4 years, and we are considering marriage and having kids of our own if we can.
Taking the next step of buying a house together for the 3 of us and getting married is a bit scary as I don't know how my role is going to change.
There is also the ex who has in the past asked my partner why I don't do more nursery school drops offs etc so I know she is paying attention and will call me out if I don't "do enough"... But I try to get a balance.
I have been desperate to find step mums my own age (early 30s) and have someone to talk to who understands the challenges.
Summer holidays are here and I'll be going away with my partner and his son for 5 days. I'm thinking of ways to make sure I can cope as he's very high energy and wants my attention all of the time, which is fun when I have the energy but can totally drain me. As I'm not the parent I'm seen as the 'fun one who will play all the time but I need to be better with boundaries as it can be exhausting and sometimes I want to read a book or go to a coffee shop alone but I feel guilty asking for that as I don't want my partner thinking that I can't handle it...
Anyway I could go on forever XD
Sending you all stepmum love xxx