Dad, Interrupted adores his step-daughters, and will do anything for them, a fact that I suspect the Daughters, Interrupted know and to their credit, have never abused. Also to their credit, and I base this on my observations of other step families, the Daughters, Interrupted have made being a step-dad very easy.

When the younger DI turned three, we took her and her sister to Disneyland. We did all the usual Disney things with a heavy emphasis on Fantasy Land and Goofy’s Kitchen, where the characters would roam the room visiting with the kids.

Beauty and the Beast was huge that year, and Abby adored Belle, so it was wonderful when Belle Herself appeared with a cake that she and Mrs. Potts had made. Bliss!

Not so blissful, though, was Beast. He was roaming the restaurant, too, and he was big and intimidating for a little girl. Abby was legitimately terrified, so Dad, Interrupted intervened and cleverly hid her from The Monster by convincing her that if she couldn’t see Beast, he wouldn’t be able to see her:

I would be remiss if I did not point out that the girls had insisted that Dad, Interrupted wear that Goofy hat all day. Which he did, because as I said: he’ll do anything for them.

So here’s a shout out to my husband, who has never said “Not my kids,” and has always said “Yes” to the devotion of his time, talent, and whatever money he had, to all his children.

© E. Stocking Evans 2015