When my stepmom had a root canal and was put on antibiotics she didn’t want to take, I told her how my mom’s friend died of an infected tooth. When she was bit by a dog (like, broke the skin, left a 2 inch long cut in her leg), I insisted she go to a doctor and get antibiotics. She instead got acupuncture. She…

My stepmom is a piece of work.

You may have met my stepmom. She literally told her sister who was dying of breast cancer that she would come out and help her only if she rejected chemo and treated the cancer “naturally.” Otherwise, she wasn’t going to fly out to help her. That was, I believe, one of the last conversations she had with her sister,…

Having grown up with a stepmom who bought into this stuff (anti-vax, crystal healing, herbs, homeopathy, muscle testing, cleanses, detoxes, enemas, generational pain manifesting in a person, etc., etc.), I think part of the reason these people buy into this is that they want answers to things that aren’t answerable,…

My stepmom is that dumb, but isn’t that rich. I don’t know if this is the specific guy she visited, but she literally took medical guidance from a medical medium who diagnosed her from Australia. My stepmom is the poorer, hippier version of goop, and has been my whole life.

I’m sure he blames the women. I mean, did you see what they were wearing?

I’m 35, have never wanted kids, and have always known that. The only people who have ever told me I’ll change my mind, my life won’t have meaning without kids, or I’m not a real woman unless I have children, are other women.

I was my friends’ Best Person of Honor! Both the Best Man and the Maid of Honor. It was fun. But definitely non-traditional. Glad things are swinging that way.

TIL...

Oh, I missed that.

Huh. Ok. So, is there a role for older women in British weddings? Is best man a thing?

Would harry get an invite to that? I’m not sure I’d invite my sibling’s spouse’s sibling to my wedding.

Two seems awfully young to be a bridesmaid. Is having really young kids as bridemaids a thing in the UK?

I toe-st to you!

I toe-tally believe it.

He really likes that accompaniment feature on his keyboard, don’t he. That rapping was really...um...something?

Yeah, that’s where we’re at. We don’t want to deal with the begging, the attempts at manipulation, the whining, etc. We’re not parents, they’re not our kids, and we don’t want to deal with that ish.

I’m prone to another chance because that’s how I grew up, but BP is less so because he was a well-behaved kid. He was also an only, though, so there’s the sibling factor, too. I think the oldest one, in particular, acts differently when his little bro is there.

Yeah, the parents are totally cool with whatever. And if they don’t follow our rules, the parents will back us up and say “well, you should have listened to the penguins.”

Thank you for saying this. I was wondering if we should have done something differently.