I will say this bothers me. A child is a blessing if they are by blood, marriage, or adoption. I really hate when people treat steps different then blood.

I have never been treated the same by my step-mother as she treats her own children. My dad has treated them better than she has treated me. I do not fault my father for his views. I figure they are his opinions and feelings, and it's not my place to tell him what he should feel or not feel. Admittedly when I saw how he played with my step-sister's daughter, I was jealous. I hope he can be like that with my kids. It makes me look forward to having children, to see him that happy.

Thank you for telling me my life won't be over once I have a child. It seems less scary when I just think of it as adding a 3rd or 4th person to our family. It makes it sound like fun. I've never wanted to think of a child as a sacrifice, but my mom always told me "your life is over when you have a kid", so I always believed that. I'm selfish and don't want to completely lose my life. But I think she was a bit too severe with that advice. I think about having a child and showing them new things and teaching them, and it makes me happy. I think about what they may be like, and I look forward to learning about who they are.