No matter how awesomely perfect you think your stepkids are, from time to time they are going to need discipline. But it´s important to discipline your kids without overstepping your boundaries. So to do that, you want to work really closely with your partner so that he not only gives you permission to discipline but also supports the discipline decisions that you make. Once he puts that into effect, the kids will begin to respect that you are an authority in their household and they will follow suit. Kids definitely crave discipline. So you don´t want to become the weakest link. It is very easy to just put it off on hey, I will tell dad when he gets home what you did. But therefore, they will prey on you knowing that you are the weak link. And when you become the weak link, you become a really disempowered stepparent.