I have been in the children’s lives for about a year now. Over the past month I have gotten closer to the family as a whole. I am not married to their father yet and just kind of waiting for a while until everything settles down. He and I have been friends for a long time and best friends for over a year. We’re talking about taking it to the next level and me moving in with him. We are both in the middle of a divorce so we aren’t going to do anything until after the divorces are final. No, we didn’t get divorced from our spouses to get married to each other. My husband cheated on me and then filed for a divorce. My best friends divorce story is a long drawn out process. Anyway, I’m just wondering if there is support out there for young Step moms. Especially since there are five children involved. I’ve always wanted a large family just didn’t imagine it would be this way. It’s difficult watching their mom manipulate and try to control everything that family members are doing by threatening to commit suicide and then lying about a lot of things. She and I have a decent relationship as far as relationships go when one person is trying to manipulate the situation. Like I said this guy and I aren’t moving forward until after the divorces are final so she has no reason to be an ass to me and she hasn’t been so far. Anyway, is there any support out there for step parents? I am struggling to know where my ground is at right now. The dad wants me to be super involved as do I especially since the mom is doing some very unhealthy things around her children. But I don’t want to overstep her and cause issues.

Don’t know who is going to get custody yet. The kids are already asking about me every day and when I’m over there at bedtime they all come over to get a goodnight kiss and then want me to tuck them in. Like I said, I love these kids like they are mine but I don’t know what to do about their mother. Tonight one of them said “I love you” for the first time to me. It was precious and makes my heart melt.