Being a stepparent is both a beautiful and difficult role to fill. Stepparents shouldn't aim to replace a mom or dad but strive to cut out their own unique way of adding value and structure to the child’s life. Jonathan Scott is paving his own stepdad path with longtime girlfriend Zooey Deschanel, 6-year-old Charlie, and 7-year-old Elsie.
Jonathan recently opened up about this on his website, which he shares with his brother Drew. Fatherhood has not always been easy, but it is definitely worth it. One of Jonathan’s first struggles was deciding what the kids should call him. He also recounted a time his feelings got hurt during the process.
Shakespeare once asked, “What’s in a name?” The answer is there is a lot riding on a name. Jonathan discussed how difficult it was to pick what the kids would call him.
“They have their dad and they have a great relationship with him, so he’s daddy,” he explained. “I couldn’t say papa because that’s what they call their grandpa — though at one point we tried to change the narrative and get them to call me papa instead, but they weren’t having it.”
It took some time, but they came up with one.
"Eventually, they came up with 'my Jonathan,'" he recalled. "So, whenever they tell a story they say, 'There’s daddy, there’s mommy, and he’s my Jonathan.'"
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Jonathan is not afraid to be vulnerable and admit his feelings were hurt when adjusting to the new role.
"One thing that was a struggle early on was that the kids didn't necessarily run up and jump in my arms and give me a big hug," he recalled. "I also remember several times where they'd be out with other kids and someone would say, 'Oh your daddy's so funny,' and they'd be like, 'That's not my daddy, he's my Jonathan.' That would hurt a little bit."
