It's Inauguration Day 2021!

[WhatWouldJohnCrichtonDo?]

35 minutes ago, Coy Koi said:

I have a stepdad who I love as a parent and have a special name for too .

I became a "step aunt" and ditto great-aunt about 2 years ago when my brother married. But I'm afraid I often forget that, because my adult new niece and nephew (and young great niece) live far away, and have only visited here a few times. My new niece is staying locally currently for a year (ish?), but because of Covid, I've only seen her once. Sucky timing! I admire the great blended families I see others form, and I'd like to be more like that!

[AmazonGrace]

 

[Coy Koi]

5 minutes ago, WhatWouldJohnCrichtonDo? said:

I became a "step aunt" and ditto great-aunt about 2 years ago when my brother married. But I'm afraid I often forget that, because my adult new niece and nephew (and young great niece) live far away, and have only visited here a few times. My new niece is staying locally currently for a year (ish?), but because of Covid, I've only seen her once. Sucky timing! I admire the great blended families I see others form, and I'd like to be more like that!

Sometimes it works out amazingly, and sometimes it doesn't work out well at all (or anything in between). That's not always due to anyone's shortcomings, sometimes it's just the circumstances, like you're describing. My sister and I happened to have great relationships with our stepdad for the most part (but there were some issues too!), but I've also had three "stepmoms" and several "stepsiblings" that I have no connection to. Some of them I don't like, and some of them I just don't really know very well, but have no negative thoughts about. And in those cases I do feel bad that I didn't get to know them better, but I don't know, life is complicated.

[WhatWouldJohnCrichtonDo?]

@Coy Koi, one funny thing is that we knew my new sister-in-law back when she was a teenager and young adult, so I babysat my new nephew twice when he was a baby and I was 16. So, if I want, I can still pull out the old line, "I used to change your diapers!"

[Coy Koi]

1 minute ago, WhatWouldJohnCrichtonDo? said:

@Coy Koi, one funny thing is that we knew my new sister-in-law back when she was a teenager and young adult, so I babysat my new nephew twice when he was a baby and I was 16. So, if I want, I can still pull out the old line, "I used to change your diapers!"

Haha, I know how you feel! My little sister is 10 years younger than me, and she's prone to being an oversharer. I used to always tell her that I used to change her diapers so don't tell me whatever she's trying to tell me. Now that we're both well into adulthood it's not much of an issue anymore. Now though it's weird because my sister and I can share whatever (10 years apart), and my daughter can also share whatever with her aunt (7 years apart). I might feel uncomfortable about being in the middle if I was in my sister's position, but she seems fine with it. She and my daughter are both less of prudes than me lol.

[WhatWouldJohnCrichtonDo?]

@Coy Koi, my oldest sibling is 9 years older than me, so I can sort of relate to your younger sister.  They never had kids, so the similarity ends there. I'm the youngest of my siblings and also the youngest of my cousins. It was the dawn of new era when my sister had her first child. I suddenly wasn't the youngest person at every family gathering anymore!

[front hugs > duggs]

Because of "half siblings" (I hate that phrase because I don't "half" love them), I have a sister ten years younger than me and a sister 15 years older than me, with a "full" brother 5 years older than me. The age gap between me and my older sister is the same age gap between her and my dad, who at one point was her step dad. 

[Audrey2]

My Dad died when I was 43. When I was 44, my mom remarried to a friend of hers from church who she had known for 50 years. Stepdad sounded strange to me at my age, so I call him my Bonus Dad. He's a great guy and he makes my Mom happy.

[Vivi_music]

3 hours ago, front hugs > duggs said:

Because of "half siblings" (I hate that phrase because I don't "half" love them), I have a sister ten years younger than me and a sister 15 years older than me, with a "full" brother 5 years older than me. The age gap between me and my older sister is the same age gap between her and my dad, who at one point was her step dad. 

About the ''half'' and ''step'' siblings thing. I hate it as well. Some people might find it useful and prefer using these terms. That's fine. But when I was growing up, it was most often used to tell me that my siblings weren't my real siblings and it made me SOO mad. I remember especially in high school once, I was getting to know some new people and I told them that my ''brothers'' didn't have the same father as me and one person told me: ''Oh they're not your real siblings then.'' I swear, I could have punched her right there.

My family is very blended. I have three older siblings from my mom's first marriage. Then she had me with my Dad. They divorced and then she met a third man, who had a son from a previous relationship. Him and my Mother have been together more than 20 years now and I consider him one of my parents for sure. Same with his son. For me, he's my brother, just like the others are. It's exactly like you said: we love each other as a family and our ''blood'' connection doesn't have anything to do with that. Not to mention that we were raised together. My mom got custody of all of her bio kids and my ''step-brother'' lived with us on and off, on a shared custody. So it was our family life. It was what we knew and it worked like a family should, with disagreements, fights, fun moments, daily life, vacations, and all.

Most of us have kids now and in our eyes, the children are all cousins, and they call me and my siblings aunty and uncle. No ''step'' or ''half'' in our vocabulary.

[47of74]

Yeah, Orange Asshole Fuck Face of America is that petty.

Quote

The Bidens were momentarily left to wait outside the White House in an awkward moment on Inauguration Day, possibly as a result of a final “petty” act by the Trump administration.

On Wednesday, Joe Biden was inaugurated as the 46th president at a ceremony at the US Capitol, following which the couple was given a military escort to their new home.

Later, as the Bidens walked up the steps to enter the executive mansion, pausing to wave before turning to enter, the much anticipated moment fell flat as the doors failed to open and the couple was left on the doorstep.

According to The National Journal, a well-placed official not associated with the incoming Biden team told the newspaper: "The Trumps sent the butlers home when they left so there would be no one to help the Bidens when they arrived."