9 Stepdads Who Stepped Into The "Dad" Role With Ease, And 9 Stepdads Who Barely Even Tried To Do A Good Job

Some of these are sweet, but others are unacceptable.

1. This stepdad celebrated HIS OWN BIRTHDAY by sending his stepchild a gift and sweet note*:

My stepdad sent this to me for HIS birthday.. 100% I’m going to do something good in the world with it. Any suggestions? from HumansBeingBros

*The note says: "Dear Emily, Happy my birthday. Happy Independence Day. Celebrate my day with this gift to you from me. It will fill me with joy to know, to have the connection that comes from something of mine becoming something of yours. Let me know what you do with the money. Anything will be okay with me. I believe you will do it with love and joy. Happy B’day me to you."

2. This stepdad crossed a line with his stepdaughter's sexual autonomy:

My stepdad texted me this after I went on a date from insaneparents

3. This stepdad bought a whole-ass poker set in the name of bonding:

Stepdad didn't really know me/what I liked so he bought this poker set so we could spend some time together :) from MadeMeSmile

4. This stepdad saw their stepchild struggling and proceeded to make things worse:

I’ve been having some insane breakdowns from stress. Got this text today after the stepdad saw me crying. I really don’t think I can do this anymore from insaneparents

5. This stepdad proved he was listening one orange jelly bean at a time:

Told my step-dad I prefer the orange jelly beans, this morning I came in to him sorting them into a jar for me from MadeMeSmile

6. This stepdad violated his stepdaughter's privacy and then punished her:

My friend (f16) has to deal with her overprotective stepdad while her mom is out of town. from insaneparents

7. This stepdad did such a great job that he got this heartfelt lil' gift:

I'm the stepfather to an 8 year old little girl who still sees her real father, who tries to pit her against me. She gave me this for Father's Day, but not to her real father. It melted my heart. As a stepdad it's hard to gauge how Im doing. Its just nice being reassured that I am doing a good job. from MadeMeSmile

8. This stepdad got mad about his stepchild "not helping" but then refused to go into specifics:

I told them I was going to lay down for a nap cause I didnt sleep well and my stepdad decides to message this to me separately from insaneparents

9. This stepdad proved he's also a stellar dog dad:

Two of the dogs have arthritis and can’t get through the doggy door without a step. My stepdad, who once swore to never get dogs, has built them a custom mini-deck so they can get in. from MadeMeSmile

10. This stepdad got heated and took it out on his stepchild for literally no reason:

Looking through my older messages, and saw my now ex stepdads messages. He basically flipped out whenever something didn’t go his way. from insaneparents

11. This stepdad celebrated his wife finishing chemo with the kindest surprise:

My step dad secretly donated a new bell in the cancer center infusion department on my mom’s last day of chemo! from MadeMeSmile

u/elsabella514 / Via reddit.com

12. This stepdad tried to convince his stepchild that alcohol and hydrocodone is all good so long as no one "operates anything":

My Stepdad Trying To Convince Me That My Dad Mixing Hydrocodone and Alcohol Is Good. from insaneparents

13. This dad secretly kept separate snacks for all the local woodland creatures 🥺:

Was looking for snacks at my parents house and found that my stepdad keeps a separate jar of nuts for the birds in with the regular people food. He also has a cabinet full of peanuts for the squirrels from MadeMeSmile

14. This stepdad slut-shamed his stepchild without a second thought:

Spend night at boyfriends with permission from mom, get called a skank and threatened to be evicted by stepdad with poor English skills 👍 from insaneparents

15. This stepdad gifted his wife with a blanket she could wrap herself in after he was gone:

My stepdad passed away a few days ago and in his final days he started losing his memory. He started ordering random things online and we kept getting them in the mail. My mom recieved this blanket in the mail today adressed to him. from MadeMeCry

16. This stepdad flipped their lid the second their stepchild asked for a little respect:

Step-dad (65) rage texting after I (42) try and set some boundaries. from insaneparents

17. This stepdad proved he was born to be a father with one single text message.

A nice message on a Thursday morning...ten years ago my then step dad joined AA. Two years ago he adopted my brother and I at 26 and 23 and became our dad. Just a good guy all around whose showed up for us everyday. Made me tear up and feel grateful for family in whatever form it takes. from MadeMeSmile

18. And finally, this stepdad threw out something his stepchild spent their hard-earned money on for (IMO) a pretty dumb reason:

So my step dad gave my pc that I paid for to goodwill. because he said I waste my time on it and I should be an auto mechanic instead of going to college for computer science. I spent like $800 on that pc from insaneparents

h/t: r/MadeMeSmile, r/insaneparents

If you are concerned that a child is experiencing or may be in danger of abuse, you can call or text the National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-422-2253 (4.A.CHILD); service can be provided in over 140 languages.

The National Alliance on Mental Illness helpline is 1-888-950-6264 (NAMI) and provides information and referral services; GoodTherapy.org is an association of mental health professionals from more than 25 countries who support efforts to reduce harm in therapy.