I have yet to see a functional step relationship.

I HATED my stepmother growing up, she was this mega Type-A person who always called me "lazy" for waking up past 9 am on the weekends and bullied everyone to get her way. I never will forget the time she yelled at me for putting my sweater in the laundry. She acted like the world was about to end. The non-stop hysterics made my life a living hell. She was/is also a gold digging bitch and really is just an overall heartless person. She also HATES my biological mother, who I am VERY close to. Why my father married this bitch I'll never know. We don't talk to each other now that I'm an adult, and if she picks up the phone when I call I immediately ask her to put my dad on the line.

One thing I've learned from this experience is NEVER to start a relationship with a woman who has children. If I ever divorce and have kids, I will wait until they are GROWN and out of the house before dating again.

I'm sorry, but this really is a two-way street paved in shit. 9 times out of 10 step parents and step kids resent the hell out of each other.