We all know that not all stepmothers are wicked. We can be guilty of sharing stories that paint some stepparents in a negative light, but that’s only because those usually make for more compelling stories. Nobody likes to read fairy tales about Cinderella and her nice stepmother who took her under her wing, treated her as well as her other daughters, and let her go to the ball without any conflict. That’s literally boring. We want suspense and drama in our narratives, but in real life, it’s always much better if a stepparent is a positive force in their stepchildren’s lives. 

Some stepparents try to force themselves into the role of a primary parent without the kid’s approval, and that’s not right. But there are some family situations where a stepparent becomes a kid’s parent with no questions asked. For some families, it would be uncouth to call the woman who is technically a «stepmother» anything else but «mom.»