I’ve spent years treating my stepdaughters like my biological daughter, but this time they went too far. It’s one thing to joke around, but it’s different when my daughter calls me crying because her stepsisters are mistreating her.
I remarried seven years after my first wife passed away. Now my daughter Julie, who is 11, has two older stepsisters, Emma, 16, and Lily, 19. Last week we flew to my hometown for my father’s funeral and booked two hotel rooms – one for me and my wife, and one for the girls.
After losing my father, I was distracted and left Emily to arrange the hotel booking. She ensured all three girls had beds in their shared room while she and I had a separate room. In the middle of the night, Julie called me crying. Her stepsisters had made her sleep on the cold floor, piling their clothes on her bed.
I confronted Emma and Lily. “Why did you decide her bed was a makeshift closet?”
“It’s just clothes, Dad. Julie can sleep anywhere, right? It’s like a sleepover,” Emma tried to joke.
“A sleepover where my daughter ends up on the floor while you enjoy your beds? This isn’t a joke,” I said.
Julie whispered, “I mind sleeping on the cold floor while my bed is used for clothes.”
I told my stepdaughters, “This isn’t about the bed or the clothes. It’s about respect and kindness. Take all the clothes and throw them on your beds. You two will be sleeping on the floor tonight.”
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