9 ½ Ways to Thank Your Evil Step-Monster

This book delves deeply into the relationship of how one woman, a step-monster, affected her husband and step-children. The story takes place some fourteen years ago, but the author describes it as vividly as though it were happening in present day. Sometimes shocking, yet always true, this book is meant to be interpreted how the reader accepts it; hopefully with empathy and understanding. The fact that she hated children was completely ironic, due to the fact that she herself had two daughters and had married a man with four. I¡¦m sure that the step-monster had imagined that it would be easy to tolerate his four young girls; after all, they were only in ¡§her¡¨ home for one month every summer. However, when my mother had a ¡¥serious lapse in judgment¡¦ and was convinced my sister Anna and I were better off living with my father,¡¨ it must have really crimped her style. Suddenly, my 13-year old sister and I were living in my step-monster¡¦s home, breathing her air and threatening to consume all of my father¡¦s time, love and affection. I¡¦ve learned to accept and let go of all that happened between that woman and I, but I will never forget it. I truly believe that living through that experience has made me a better, stronger, and certainly smarter human being. I¡¦ve learned to never make my own children feel like an inconvenience. I believe that the relationship that I have with my own step-children is better because I was able to learn from the step-monster what not to do.