This hit me really hard and resonated so much. Please don’t judge me too harshly. I was in a relationship for several years with a man (not the father of my son, who was five when we first met) and I felt so conflicted for a long time about how much I loved my partner, who it turned out just could not be a step parent. He tried, and he faked it for a long time (years), until the simmering resentment for my boy became too much for him. My son is hilarious and so sweet, but he can be very stubborn and strong willed (no idea where he gets it from
![Upside-down face :upside_down: 🙃](https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/gh/joypixels/emoji-assets@5.0/png/64/1f643.png)
) for a long time I tried to reconcile the fact that I loved my ex but he couldn’t love my son. In the end, my ex was becoming bitter and moody, so it was a horrible environment for everyone. It ended catastrophically and I was heartbroken even though I knew it was for the best. Those years I thought everyone was getting along pretty well though in my little blended family, I did found it increasingly hard to please them both and it didn’t matter what I did, they would both want my attention. I still love that man from afar and in another life we would have been very happy together. I must say though I am so blessed to have my son and glad I ‘chose’ him in the end. In brutal honesty, at the time I knew I would have to choose one over the other one day, and a tiny part of me deep down wanted that man. I felt guilty over that for a long time.