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Read other letters about this article
"I can't stand sharing my home with my two young stepchildren."
"It is only when they are gone that I feel comfortable in my own home."
"like having permanent, irritating houseguests."
"constantly inconvenienced in my own home."
"most of the time I wish they would just go away."
"I just want them to go away. "
____
The language in this poor woman's letter could not be more clear. I tried to imagine who "they" would be had I written it, and realized that these would not just be people I didn't love, these would be people I could not stand.
So I support the writers who found this letter to be deeply disturbing, to represent an emergency for some children somewhere. It calls up archetypes of stepchildren left deep in the forest with pockets full of breadcrumbs.
I hope Stepmother and her husband seek and receive good help. There is a safe path out of there, and with it comes a different story.
