(一)
Sometimes a stepparent has to take a step back. When I was thirty-five, I met my husband and came to know his kids, aged 10 and 7.We __1__ playing basketball and shopping for cartoon books and became great friends. Then I got __2__.
In most cases, stepkids live with their mom and stepdad. This makes our case quite __3__. Four years into our marriage, after going between their mom’s place and ours, the boys __4__in with us full-time.
I was no longer a part-time friend, so everything changed. For example, __5__ the kids to help didn’t appear an important thing before, but now they became unwilling. Once, after I’d asked my elder stepson to set the table, he __6__ said, “You’re not my mother; I don’t have to __7__ you.”
