Dear Queenie,
My wife has teenage children from her first marriage. I found out recently that when she got some information about one of them she did not tell me about it because she thought it would be violating her child’s privacy.
I am offended because this makes me feel like I am not really part of her family. She thinks she was justified.
Queenie, who is right?—Offended stepfather
Dear Stepfather,
Your wife is. If her child asked her not to discuss whatever it was with you, your wife was correct in doing as her child requested. This is not a problem in your marriage unless you make it so. Children often keep secrets from their parents, never mind their step-parents.
