When this stepmom feels guilty, she asks Reddit:
I am the step mother to a 16 year old daughter. I have been her step mom for 6 years. I love my step daughter and think she is a good kid.
For instance, she’s polite, in the top 5% of her class, doesn’t get into trouble, helps with house work proactively and is extremely compassionate, probably more so than the average teenager is at 16. She has her eyes set on being valedictorian.
The thing is with her, is that she’s only had the same steady group of friends (2-4 other kids) since elementary school, which is fine. But as opposed to doing what seems normal among kids her age, she is perpetually upstairs in her room on her laptop...
For the past three years I have watched her actively decide against going to prom, home-coming, any party or outing even with her own friends etc. She doesn’t wear makeup, she dresses extremely homely in exclusively sweat pants, and outside of going to school everyday, she doesn’t leave the house.