Becoming a stepmom taught me that my role is to be a trusted adult. I'm there for when they don't want to call their parents.

"I've been a stepmom for 20 years and am the second in three generations of stepmoms. My mom taught me to let my stepchildren guide the role they need me to play in their lives. For 20 years, I've tried to be a trusted adult and am now watching my stepdaughter do the same. The first stepmother I remember was Lady Tremaine - the wicked stepmother, brought to us by Disney in the film "Cinderella.""

"Funny enough, I became a stepmom at a Disney World wedding. At the time, my stepson was 16, my stepdaughters were 13 and 8, and my son was 5. The kids all joked that the second we said "I do," I was going to turn wicked and lock them in a tower. My husband and I had dated for a few years before we got married. I had gotten to know the kids pretty well."

"In 2008, our family grew from yours and mine. We added "ours," and now my stepchildren have a stepsibling (no shared parent) and a half-sibling (shares one parent). One thing I learned from my mom is that siblings fight. When the kids would argue about whose turn it was to unload the dishwasher or fight over a special cup, my husband and I would smile. We both had similar arguments with our own siblings"

A woman has been a stepmom for twenty years and represents the second generation of stepparents in her family. Her mother taught her to allow stepchildren to shape the role they need, so she prioritized being a trusted adult. She became a stepmom at a Disney World wedding to children aged 16, 13, and 8 while also parenting a young son. The household blended into yours, mine, and ours, later adding a stepsibling and a half-sibling, and common sibling conflicts were treated as normal family dynamics. Her stepdaughter is now beginning her own stepparent journey.

Read at Business Insider