Stepmoms Can Foresee the Future...

Stepmoms can predict the future. Stepmoms should know what I'm talking about right away, even if you didn't realize it before.

Parents have the ability to know if their kid is 'up to no good' or might be in danger. They may have this innate sense that tells them something is wrong.

Stepmoms, though, can tell you what the kid is going to do in the future. Regular parents lack this skill because they have hope for the best, which crowds out reality.

Oo, I know I got you legit parents up in arms! But it's trrrruuuuueeee! You do! You do hope for the best for your child, and you expect them to just be awesome some day, and it will all work out, and...pixie dust, pixie dust, pixie dust!

That's your job. If you have your own child, you're they're number one cheerleader (probably, or deep down) and you support them no matter what. You see the positive future for them, even if you don't necessarily let your kid know that you have this faith in them.

Stepparents, or I guess, mostly just stepmoms, lack this ability. Sometimes, I wish I had it. I want to have everlasting hope for my stepkids. Instead, I have the gift of reality, or put another way, the ability to see patterns and predict accordingly.

I can tell you exactly what will happen next week with my stepkids. I can tell you what they will say to others, and I can tell you what they will respond in response to a question. I can tell you what they would do in social and pressure situations, and I can tell you what types of choices they will make.

Occasionally, they deviate. That's bound to happen, as predictions of the future aren't always 100%. But for the most part, I can tell you what they will say, what they will do, and even give you options based on the mood they might be in.

Some parents can do this too, but I can tell you, from being married to one, that parents don't always want to predict from patterns and know what their kids are most naturally set to do. They don't necessarily see what path their kids are going down and the behavioral signs that predict the future. As a matter of fact, a parent may choose to ignore the signals and information emanating from their child. They can choose to bury it and move on, with hope.

But I can't help it. I see the obvious, keep track of it a little, and know what's coming. I've developed this skill, like other stepmoms, as a result of some trauma and as a means to cope. After a while, you get tired of being surprised, hurt or confused. I still feel the last 3 "symptoms" all the time, but to a lesser degree, because I know the patterns and can predict what's coming.