All hail the step parent for trying

It’s almost that time of the year when mothers anticipate “happy Mother’s Day” cards, gifts and cheer from their little ones. It’s a time when even mothers who do as little as possible expect the grandest of appreciation... I hate Mother’s Day.

But before you start asking where on earth this woman – who eats children for breakfast, lunch and supper – comes from, allow me to explain.

You see, I’m a stepmother – the hardest job ever.

Let me speak for all the stepmoms.

The sacrifice a step-parent makes is immeasurable. We make the choice to love somebody else’s child, even when we do not really want to. Some of us go over and above to do more for these children, even though there is no guarantee that our kindness will ever be repaid.

If you think parenting is hard, step-parenting takes the cake. The rejection from the kids we just want to love, the animosity from biological parents and the feeling of short-changed appreciation form just a small part of this mammoth task.

Step-parents are rarely celebrated, mind you, we are not in the game for the celebrations.

But there is one thing the world needs to realise, we do not have to like or love our step-kids.

We do not have to take the abuse from their biological parents and do not need the judgment of a world.

Heck, step-parenting is not for the faint-hearted. We cry ourselves to sleep and doubt ourselves, yet we still keep on trying for the sake of our “children”.

Fairy tales have made it harder for us, especially with the concept of the evil stepmother.

But not all of us are the personification of the evil woman who makes Cinderella’s life as thorny as ever.

The struggles we face are great. We fight addictions, crime, teenage pregnancy, disease and other social ills, trying our hardest to keep our “children” on the straight and narrow.

Society needs to understand that step-parents are not the enemy.

Happy Mother’s Day to parents who chose to actively be a part of another person’s child’s life.