this poor little girl

I am not sure if it was all the sugar from the cake, M&Ms, and soda that Rylee had at the party but she was in a crazy mood last night. After we put Brienna to bed we came in the basement to spend some time with the kids. Rylee wanted to sit next to me on the couch which was odd because she usually wants to sit next to her Dad. She started telling me about all the kids in her class at school, and which ones are her "best" friends which seemed to be over half the class. She told me about the sleepover she had with one of her friends a while back. She started asking questions about my parents and if they were only Zach's and Brienna's Nana and Papa or were they hers as well. I explained to her that they were no different to her then they were to Zach and Brienna. She asked me why her Nani was not Zach and Brienna's too. I explained to her about that being her Mom's mom and that her Mom was only hers and no one else's so that made her Nani only hers and her cousin Peyton. She then looked at me with the saddest look on her face and said "but my Nani tells me that my Mom is my only mom and she gets really upset when I accidently call you Mom in front of her instead of Cori". My response, as much as this pissed me off, was simply that Rylee should never feel bad for calling me Mom in front of anyone and that it was not fair for anyone to make her feel that way.

She also asked me why I married Daddy, and if I love her the same as I love Zach and Brienna. Of course this sparked my interest and I asked her why would she feel that I did not love her the same as them, and her response was that she was told that she was not my kid. I know that she is young, and that means she could not possibly understand the concept of a step-mother. Gary actually surprised me by relating to her that when her Mommy gets married again that her new husband would be Rylee's step-father which means that she would have 2 dads, just like she now has 2 moms.

I am sure that this conversation was much more enlightening to me then it was to her. I just think it truely shows how sad and pathetic the other half of her family can be. The thing that surprises me the most is that most of the negativity comes from her Grandmother. How much of piece of crap could you be to make a 5 year old feel bad for calling her stepmother "mom" in front of you. Neither I nor Gary have forced either one of the kids to refer to us as mom or dad. This is strictly their decision, and so it should NO ONE else's influence that trys to stop them for doing so.

I still can't believe that they are so pathetically hung up on our relationship after all this time, I really wonder when they will finely just let this poor confused child figure out her "family" situation on her own with out inserting their warped opinions!