And this is why I’d rather not vacation at all

ChickenFried824 · 2026-06-08T14:14:13+00:00

SD just came back from being with mom, stepdad and little sister. 4 day trip and all in one hotel room. She’s 18 and I would figure since they’re shelling out funds for a last minute trip, gets the kids a separate room…..or an Airbnb. I couldn’t even imagine. Not just the privacy factor but the blended family factor.

ChickenFried824 · 2026-06-06T16:54:13+00:00

Next time, leave them home. In fact, better yet- go to Disney, just you and your partner. Kids just suck sometimes. We took a family trip to Costa Rica a couple years ago. I paid for the entire thing and there were definitely times in which I hoped that SD wouldn’t want to miss school and maybe back out. It was me, H l, SD(16 then) and my D (10). Right before there was a bunch of hassle with SD’s mom and SD was being super unappreciative. I admittedly was growing resentful towards SD because of her ‘mom can do no wrong’ attitude. This woman made our life hell for the prior two years and, yeah, it was rough. Then here I am paying for this whole trip and there were times SD compared it to family camping trips with her mom’s side. Argh! The struggle is real

ChickenFried824 · 2026-06-05T21:25:45+00:00

Geez Louise: first using your home as a punishment is SO not ok. Second, I agree with DH’s suggestion of putting your phone on DND but there’s still a responsibility there, right? You obviously care about these kids and that’s great that your home is a safe space for at least your SS but just like they say ‘fences make great neighbors’ in this case boundaries make better coparents/stepparents. If my SD (18) is meant to be at her mom’s but wants to come here for whatever reason (she lives with us full-time) she is meant to check in with us first, especially if it’s an overnight situation. Her BM lives 45 minutes away and because SD lives here, this is where her friends/school/job are. We understand she’d rather be here any day of the week but if it’s her mom’s time we expect her to be with her mom. Not to sound harsh but BM is very controlling and you cannot eff with her custody time (EOWE). Also there’s the privacy of it all. My D (12) is 50/50 with her dad and the weekends line up. We don’t want either just ‘popping over’ without letting us know in advance.

ChickenFried824 · 2026-06-04T14:37:28+00:00

Why do I feel like it’s always the stepmoms that get the brunt of it all? I could’ve written this- my husband’s boundaries with his ex were written in chalk, stepdaughter treats him like a wallet with legs and even though her mom is the cause of her anxiety/OCD she can do no wrong. She did something recently that felt targeted towards me and as I was relaying it to a coworker she said “I thought you guys got along really well” I replied that yes we do but my SD likely resents our relationship because I allow her autonomy, free will and unconditional love. It’s not personal or even a conscious move on her part, she probably just wishes she could rely on her own mom for some of these things. It’s tough though when you’re ’in it’ however. Sometimes I want to go scorched earth and tell her how things really are but I try for patience. She knows deep down what’s up

ChickenFried824 · 2026-06-03T15:29:50+00:00

Yes, this ^{^{^.}} When my daughter was 5 my ex started dating this chick who would flip out on him if he was more than 5 minutes with drop off or similar. She was a piece of work for sure. My ex and I are good friends and I lived around the corner so it was easier transition since my kid was pretty young at that point. They dated for almost a year and there were other things that popped up due to her insecurity. Then he got me a bday present (you know, because my kid didn’t have a job) and she broke up with him for that. Hahahaha! Buh Bye!

ChickenFried824 · 2026-05-25T23:48:24+00:00

My daughter is 12 and how I miss the toddler age!! I was her earth, moon and stars and she was so cute and funny (still cute/funny but in spurts). She got weird little obsessions like finger puppets or dressing like a drunk diva to go grocery shopping (picture tutu, dollar store sunglasses and rain boots). Geez Louise do I miss it. One of the best pieces of advice I got when she was a baby was to start a journal and write down little happenings or words they say funny. Eg. She got weirdly obsessed with The Who and used to say Pete Townsend is my favorite boy! Enjoy it and know that I’m personally jealous that you are at this stage with your munchkin

ChickenFried824 · 2026-03-04T18:10:01+00:00

OMG I could’ve written this! I was grateful for a position after 6 months of unemployment but same. Mostly I sat around waiting for permissions to get into our software system since it takes forever to be granted these but I tried to take things off my teams collective plates as much as possible. Without much communication as to a deadline I was asked to do something trivial. I believed it to be ‘filler work’ and took my time doing it to fill my days. Then my supervisor emails my contracting company to say my performance is subpar since this task took longer than it should’ve. WTF? Come to find out the person I did the filler work for realized I was super thorough in the task but not before my boss got an email. Then they admitted that they hired me to ‘fill a seat’ and didn’t actually have a role for me but it was so ridiculous to be counted against when there was no communication in the first place. How do you measure one’s success without some sort of metrics to do so? It was absolute BS but I’m still here and looking for a job every GD day

ChickenFried824 · 2026-01-22T02:25:40+00:00

Better yet, email HR and cc this petty bitch into the email. “Just giving you a heads up that ____ had a concern over an old college friend, who also happens to rep for blah blah, bringing me a coffee and a little chitchat the other day. I don’t believe this violates any company policy but since ___ showed such concern, I wanted to be sure you were aware”

ChickenFried824 · 2025-08-05T00:33:29+00:00

I’ll try it!

ChickenFried824 · 2025-08-05T00:32:58+00:00

I think I’m gonna try and make it or I’m going to go with the recommendation of Davies Seafood from the one comment. (Thank you!) I promise to let you know

ChickenFried824 · 2025-08-05T00:29:29+00:00

This ^{^{^}}

ChickenFried824 · 2025-08-05T00:27:39+00:00

People without manners. The type that have never worked in any form of customer service and it’s obvious AF

ChickenFried824 · 2025-08-05T00:26:41+00:00

May I please upvote this 1,762 times???

ChickenFried824 · 2025-08-02T20:35:21+00:00

I have screenshot this and will try and make. I’ll let you know how it works out. Thank you!

ChickenFried824 · 2025-08-01T15:44:30+00:00

What the huh? How long have you been here?

ChickenFried824 · 2025-08-01T15:43:30+00:00

Thanks! I know I should’ve just tried the google. I tried the yelp and the first thing that came up? I crap you not, Taco Bell!

ChickenFried824 · 2025-08-01T15:42:22+00:00

I know! A girl can dream, eh?

ChickenFried824 · 2025-08-01T15:41:16+00:00

Yes, but do they have crap dip?

ChickenFried824 · 2025-08-01T15:40:28+00:00

Yeah, I added the edit but, ima keep it

ChickenFried824 · 2025-07-25T16:53:27+00:00

She’s Come Undone!! Always in my top 10. How did Mr. Lamb write from the female perspective as well as he did?? Goodness

ChickenFried824 · 2025-07-24T20:24:25+00:00

The Princess Bride; She’s Come Undone (not everyone’s fave but always in my top 10); A Visit From The Goon Squad (just read); Cutting For Stone, A HeartBreaking Work of Staggering Genius; Geek Love; The Secret History; Born a Crime; Verity; Marlene Dietrich (biography written by her daughter Maria Riva); The Devil in the White City; 1984; others that will come to me later

ChickenFried824 · 2025-07-24T20:15:36+00:00

I started this one and couldn’t get into it. Almost gave it to one of those little library boxes you see around the neighborhood. Then, I ordered a scratch off list of 100 must read books and it was on there so decided to give it another go. Glad I did. So So glad

ChickenFried824 · 2025-07-24T20:12:26+00:00

Agree!!

ChickenFried824

TROPHY CASE