Most of us are aware of how difficult adapting to a new school can be. Even if you were a popular kid who didn't struggle with it that much, you might have still had issues with it at some point. And if you didn't, well, consider yourself lucky.
In today's story, we're going to talk about kids who were being thrown to boarding school and back because of their complicated family dynamics. Or to be more specific, their late mom being replaced with a woman, who quickly turned into a wicked stepmother due to her boundary overstepping.
More info: Reddit
Adapting to a new school can be rather challenging, but imagining doing that a few times in relatively short amount of time
Image credits: hryshchyshen / Freepik (not the actual photo)
That's what the kids from today's story had to deal with
Image credits: Vitaly Gariev / Unsplash (not the actual photo)
They were enrolled to a boarding school while their mom was dying from cancer
Image credits: Vitaly Gariev / Unsplash (not the actual photo)
Initially they weren't that thrilled about it, but with time things got better
Image credits: Throwawaye_1725
Until their new stepmom decided to take them back saying she wants family together, which felt like a slap to face for the kids, who started to like the school
The OP’s stepkids are enrolled in a boarding school around 10 miles from where she lives with her husband. They became students there when their mom was dying from cancer, and their dad decided it would be better for them.
At first, the kids were furious about it. The bitterness was heard in their voices while talking on the phone when the author and their dad started dating. But with time, the complaints seemed to stop.
Them living separately kind of stresses the woman out – in her opinion, it’s hard for the kids to trust and respect her when they barely spend any time together. They just seem too emotionally detached from the family. Especially now, when the woman is expecting a baby, their sibling.
So, feeling that having all family members nearby is important to her, the OP asked her husband to pull his kids from the boarding school. After all, the school had to be temporary in the first place.
Yet, what the woman didn’t anticipate with this decision was the stepkids’ anger. Apparently, they finally found a safe place with their classmates, and now they were pulled away from them, which wouldn’t have been something they chose for themselves. In their eyes, the stepmom turned into a wicked stepmother by overstepping her boundaries with this decision.
We can’t say that the kids aren’t onto something. Since boarding school students spend most of their time there, it’s bound to find someone to bond with. In fact, social development is considered one of the benefits of such schools.
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Also, in boarding schools, students are also surrounded by professionals dedicated to their craft of supervising and caring for kids. So, basically, these institutions provide a very socially nurturing environment for kids.
Besides all of this, boarding schools tend to have a pretty diverse environment, which fosters students' cross-cultural understanding and communication skills even further than already mentioned perks. All of this mixed with other benefits like unique extracurricular activities, great academic programs and personalized mentorships, can raise students to be all rounded individuals with friends that last a lifetime.
At the same time, there are some disadvantages that come from boarding schools too. The first one that come that comes for everyone is cost, but it's far from the only one. The social life, that was mentioned among pros, can turn into a con too. Mostly when it comes to social adjustment, especially for shy or introverted children.
Seemingly, the kids from the story had this issue in the beginning, but as later developments showed, they managed to find their folks there. But now, by being taken away from the community they built, social adjustment is on the horizon for them again.
Not only do they have to get used to a stepmother they didn’t spend that much time with, they’ll also have to go to a new school with new kids and start all over again.
What do you think? Would you have done the same thing as the OP? Please, let us hear your takes in the comments.
Netizens also didn't think the woman's action was with the best intentions – in their eyes she only wanted help with her upcoming baby instead of family like she claims
