Dear Queenie,
My husband and his previous wife have joint custody of their children. When they are with him they pester me all the time wanting to sit on my lap or show me something or tell me something or settle an argument they have.
Sometimes they’re cute and we have fun, but not always.
Queenie, will it always be like this? I don’t know how much I can take!—Harassed second wife
Dear Second wife,
Face it, you are the children’s stepmother and they are treating you like a (second) mother. Actually, it is quite a compliment.
Try to arrange to deal with the children one at a time while your husband, their father, spends time with the others.
And be patient. As the children grow older they will develop outside interests and will want to spend less time with their parents. When that time comes you may even find that you miss them.
