1. As a product of divorce, you often hear, “I’m so sorry,” when people first find out. Why? Two of everything… hello!
2. When asked, “how many siblings do you have?” you’re not sure whether to start explaining your relation to each of them, or if you should just say how many and let people stand in awe of how you could all live under one roof… as far as they know. Wait until they hear you have four parents…
3. You have double the amount of extended family, and you thank the universe that you have a viable explanation as to how you’re not all blood related if they’re weird.
4. Holidays are always interesting since you might switch off which “side” of the family you’re with based on whoever makes better food, or whoever has the better family gossip.
5. You often have to explain to people what the difference between “half” and “step” siblings are, and even after you’ve put it as plainly as possible, you recognize that “I still don’t get it” face.
6. You learn to just not argue when people say, “oh yeah, I see the resemblance,” about you and your step-siblings. Just smile and nod.
7. Your family dynamics are totally different on each side (i.e. You’re your mom’s baby and your dad’s oldest).
8. And your siblings’ ages range from married-with-kids to just-finished-second-grade.
9. You have to remind yourself to fill both sides in on your plans, or else you might accidentally be surprising one side of the fam when you visit for a weekend. Or in the reverse, one side might send a search party out looking for you if you forgot to mention you were going out with friends for the night.
10. You know that “everything happens for a reason” is not just a cliché phrase, and you thank your lucky stars it’s not, because you never would’ve ended up with all your crazy family members otherwise.
