Stepdad Steps Up Beautifully To Teach A 10-Year-Old Boy How To Treat The Women In His Life — Including His Wife
He wanted to teach his stepson about the importance of respect.
LightFieldStudios from Getty Images via Canva Pro There's nothing more heartwarming than a stepparent stepping up and choosing to love the child or children of their partner unconditionally as if they were their own.
In a TikTok video, a woman named Maggie MacVenn shared a beautiful video of her husband teaching her 10-year-old son how to be a respectful man.
He stepped up to teach his stepson how to treat the women in his life.
In MacVenn's video, she recorded her husband scolding her 10-year-old son for disrespectfully speaking to her while also teaching him an important life lesson.
"Excuse me, you're not gonna talk to my wife like that, my girlfriend, my mom. I only do this to show you what to do when you're old," MacVenn's husband told his stepson. He admitted that while he was still in the kitchen before coming out to lecture his 10-year-old stepson, he had tears in his eyes because he was "terrified" of having to talk to him about this.
He continued, admitting that he didn't want to hurt the young boy's feelings and didn't want to come across as if he were being mean or hurtful.
"But I have to," he insisted. "I have to because if I don't when you get to be a man, you're gonna [mess] up and you're gonna come back and be like, 'Why did I lose that girl I love so much?'"
MacVenn's husband pointed out that he never wants his stepson to hurt other people, especially women. He encouraged the young man to set boundaries because they're healthy, and while they hurt in the beginning, by the end, they always work out.
"I worked up a lot of courage to come in here and talk to you about that 'cause I love you. I really don't wanna hurt your feelings, so I don't like playfighting. I don't like seeing you cry, I don't like talking to you like this," he added. "But I cannot accept you talking to your mom like that."
After receiving negative comments about her initial video, MacVenn shared her husband's response about his role in their family.
In a follow-up TikTok video, MacVenn responded to a negative comment left by a viewer who claimed that she should've been the one to scold her son about the way he had been speaking to her, and not his stepfather.
In response, MacVenn's husband insisted that a man's role when they decide to take on a family and become the head of the household is to take care of everyone, no matter what. Not only has he stepped up, but he's become a father figure to MacVenn's 10-year-old son, whose biological father isn't in the picture.
He criticized people who accused his wife of being a "narcissist," and maintained that a little boy should never be given the green light to disrespect any woman in his life, especially his mother.
"You can't treat a woman with disrespect and just not have any thought into how they're gonna react to you," MacVenn's husband said, adding that his stepson had threatened to slap his mother and that wasn't okay with him. "I don't care if it's my child, another person's child. If they look at their parent and say they're gonna slap them, I'm absolutely getting involved."
In the video that MacVenn shared, it's clear that not only is her husband stepping up and serving as a poignant male figure in her son's life, but he's also fulfilling the role of a stepfather who emphasizes the need for respectful behavior toward women. It's heartwarming to see the profound effect that a stepparent can have on their stepchild, by teaching them to choose love over everything else.
Beyond the immediate family dynamics, blended families are just as important and it's equally noteworthy that MacVenn's husband is making sure a young boy living in his care grows up to understand how to navigate future relationships.
Nia Tipton is a Chicago-based entertainment, news, and lifestyle writer whose work delves into modern-day issues and experiences.