You’re Not My Parent, But Also… You Kind of Are

You’re Not My Parent, But Also… You Kind of Are

There’s no clean language for a step-parent. Not in childhood, not in college. “Parent” feels too definitive, too earned. It suggests a history that can’t be replicated, a kind of authorship over your life that belongs to someone else. But their first name, repeated enough times over the years, starts to feel insufficient, too casual for someone who knows what time you get home, what you eat for breakfast, what kind of mood you’re in when you cl…