Stepdad refuses to take 9-year-old stepson to soccer games with his 7-year-old son: 'We root for different teams'

Is it so wrong to take a little boy to support his favorite soccer team?

I hate to see adults downplay the importance of their relationship with the children in their lives. I'm not talking about a random family member a kid sees once or twice a year: I'm talking about grown-ups who actively take a parental role in their kids' lives and don't fully accept the responsibility that entails. They try to use adult terms to justify why they don't care enough about their stepchildren, claiming that because they're not biologically related to them, they don't have an obligation to care for them. Sure, they might not have a legal obligation to pay for the life of a child they didn't mother or father, but that's not what's keeping them up at night. What's keeping them up at night is knowing the kid worships them and wants their approval more than anything, yet they aren't doing anything to maintain that relationship. 

If a stepchild sees their stepparent bonding with their biological child, they might get jealous and want some of that attention, and that's perfectly natural. A stepparent might be hesitant to include their stepchild in every event they attend with their child, and for good reason! A blended family should never be an excuse for never getting any one-on-one time with your kid. On the other hand, it's kind of cruel to take your son to soccer games all the time, without even asking your stepson if he'd ever want to come.