Shaddup, old man!

I was a step-parent and their mother was very much in the picture. It was tough because she would talk about me in a negative fashion and it rubbed off on the kids but I took the high road and didn't say anything about her to them. An artist friend of my ex-husband told me recently that the kids did benefit from living with me because they did go to university and did credit me with that.

All you can do is be you, be positive & don't act like you're trying to take over already-established roles. It's not easy, though. I don't plan on dating someone with kids in the future.

(and yes, I'm well aware you have kids, PF!)