G'day fellow S'Talkers, it's been a minute.

For those who may not have followed my tragicomic attempt at a relationship and Steplife in general, here is my cast of characters:

SO - Signficant Other, who lives with me.

SOS - Significant Other Son, who is sometimes still staying with me and SO

SOD - Significant Other Daughter, who lives with

TPP - the Trailer Park Prince, aka SOD's Sperm Donor. 

SO-GD - Signficant Other - Granddaughter, the child of SOD and the TPP.

I see this a lot on mano-sphere type sites, where I read stories of men who get taken to the cleaners in a divorce.  There is usually a high initial cost in the divorce, followed by stories similar to what we see here - endless arguing over alimony, CS, and "extras" for the kids.  Many men have sworn off marriage because it opens them up financially to tremendous loss.

This is something that has been rattling around my head recently.  It seems in step-life that we see far more examples of immature, emotionally unstable, and downright foolish decisions by the children in our lives, as compared to what would be seen in an intact and stable nuclear family.  Here are some of my examples, what do you got StepTalk?

1.  Taking on expensive habits that they can't afford - cigarrettes, energy drinks, fancy coffees, fancy clothes they wear one time and forget.

I know this is a concept foreign to most of the bio-parents discussed on this site, but was curious if anyone has come across the rare bio-parent that actually tried it.  My SO, like many, won't implement "tough love" requirements and consequences.  She used to say this was because she was afraid that she would "lose" her daughter, as the daughter is prideful and would retaliate against tough love by cutting all contact.  She even went so far as to say that pridefual daughter would end up homeless and sleeping out of here car, rather than give an inch in the relationship.  However, SO has l