21 Things Only People Who Grew Up In A Blended Family Can Understand

You Know You're A Kid In A Stepfamily When...

Sorry, all you nuclear family kids: there are just some things that only kids who grew up in a stepfamily can understand.

Case in point? The 22 things below, which prove life in a blended family is nothing short of an adventure -- a uniquely awkward but ultimately wonderful adventure.

1. The bathroom is never yours. The water in the shower may have been hot at some point, but freezing showers have become your new normal.

2. You may be one big happy blended family, but let's be honest -- the siblings are divided into two distinct teams: littles and bigs. (Sorry, middle child, you're going to have to choose a side.)

3. You'd like to buy your mom one of those cute Hallmark family tree frames for Mother's Day, but there aren't enough branches.

4. . You get called by every sibling’s name but your own regularly.

5. Your mom or dad has also, on occasion, called your stepparent by your bio-mom or dad's name. And forgotten that it was your dad who liked cheesecake for his birthday, not your stepdad. Oopsie.

6. Vacations are nearly impossible. Thanks a lot, dueling custody agreements.

7. But at least there are two Christmases! #score

8. There's a chore board in your home that features an elaborate matrix of schedules and competing extracurricular activities. The struggle to make sense of that board is real.

9. Your stepparent tried to win you over with Taylor Swift concert tickets when he or she first met you. It didn't work. Treating your mom or dad right did.

10. Industrial-sized boxes of cereal for breakfast again?

11. You were a little peeved when your stepbrother stole your birth order position in the family. You wanted to be the baby in the family forever. FOREVER.

12. If you never see another set of bunk beds again, it will be too soon.

13. You get "but you look nothing alike?!" stares every time you introduce your stepsibs to new friends. (You could introduce them as "my stepbrother" or "stepsister," but how weirdly formal is that?)

14. You can't find your beloved little cropped blazer anywhere... until you see your stepsister wearing it in a Facebook pic from her little brother's graduation.

15. You have shouted "you're not my real dad/mom!" at some point in your life.

16. When you're older, one of your stepsibling's distant cousins asks to be set up with you. Awkward much?

17. You were shocked at how lax your stepdad's house rules were for your stepsiblings -- and you better believe you lobbied hard for the same house rules when you all moved in together.

18. There's always that one relative who buys you something awesome for the holidays (hello, 3D printing pen!) but something crummy for your stepsiblings. (Socks? WTH.)

19. You're embarrassed to admit you've given serious thought as to which member of the Kardashian-Jenner crew you are.

20. You've uttered a sentence that goes something like this: "Oh, she's my stepbrother's mom's stepdaughter's aunt."

21. Your parents, stepparents, stepsiblings, and half siblings may drive you crazy at times, but at the end of the day, you're proud to call them family.

And let's not forget the joy that is having two of each holiday. #blessed.

Keep in touch! Check out HuffPost Divorce on Facebook and Twitter. Sign up for our newsletter here.

Before You Go

COUSINS

24 Surprising Hollywood Relatives

Close

HuffPost Shopping’s Best Finds

MORE IN LIFE