If you had to live through what Cinderella went through with her stepmother and step-sisters, how do you think you would've handled the situation? Would you have stood up to them when they tried to bully you into doing all the house chores, or would you have done what Cinderella did, basically sticking it out until a prince came to rescue her? Out in the real world, I am sure there are plenty of ‘real Cinderella stories’, about people who have to deal with mean step-parents or step-siblings, an…

It ain't easy

Step-parents have a difficult job to do . They have to strike a balance between being supportive of the kids and keeping their distance. Every relationship is different, of course, but it's usually better to meet the kid where they're at instead of forcing a certain dynamic onto them. This is especially true when their biological parent is deceased. Any gesture that makes it seem like you're trying to ‘replace’ them will not be met well, and you'll probably lose them forever. This is true when…

"My entire life I’ve always been the outsider and they made sure I knew that, harshly. It was worse whenever I succeeded in life."

It's ok to laugh when things get hard as a parent.

She was two steps ahead

She's providing

She wants her share

She's in preschool

Good things

We all like to say that we don't care about our birthdays, that we don't mind if people forget, or if we only do something quiet and chill. However, in reality, we always end up secretly getting excited about our birthdays and expecting the world to be extra kind, as if it owes us something on the day we are born. Do we actually get special treatment on our birthday though? Well, in most cases, not really. The world doesn't really owe us anything on that day, and how it ends up usually depends…

One of the worst things about parenting is having to make small talk with other parents. Just because our kids are the same age doesn't mean we have much in common, and there's only so much runway I get with talking about the kids' developmental phases, school, activities, etc. before I run out of stuff to say. And then you're just left talking about regular adult stuff with people who are more boring than you. This is why you need your designated parent friend. You need a person you've identif…

Gatekeep, gaslight, girlboss? Not exactly.

Hmmm

Too scary

They weren't happy