Stone Soup by Jan Eliot for August 17, 2015

Holly’s starting to look a little more mature in the latest strips…

There are some people feel the same way when they get a stepparent. Me included, but my mother in my case (my father is an eleven-year widower this September who remarried eight years this November).

This step parent/child situation with Holly is working out SO well so far. I really hope it remains good. Put the trauma and drama somewhere else!

I told my step children that I was not trying to replace their mom but I loved their dad and wanted to be his wife. So even though I love them I leave family business with them up to him, as does he with me and my children.

Holly you should have no worries nor Alix as Phil wants to be part of your life not replace your dad.

I have credibility issues. He’s married now, yet his carrying his own dirty dishes.

My husband puts his dirty dishes on the counter about half the time.

He’s older, had his own place and part of the times in 2015. Men no longer go from mommy taking care of them to wife. Wow I didn’t even notice Phil taking plate to the sink. To me, it would be too archaicaic (sorry spelling?) to leave the table and expect wife to carry plate to the sink.

Agreed Phil.

Hubby carried his own dishes to the sink, and sometimes mine. Brother carries his own dishes to the sink and insists on being the one to wash our dishes. It may be because he’s worried since I’d had that very mild stroke and it reminds him of mama’s strokes.

Phil is already thinking differently from Joe, one of the husbands in the story, “A Summer in Sonoma.” Joe thought all he had to take care of was the exterior of his home, leaving his wife to pick up his dirty clothes, dirty dishes, and he would not even keep himself clean; he didn’t care how his clothes looked, as long as they felt comfortable. He didn’t listen to his wife, but did listen to Billy, a coworker, who told him what his wife had been telling him. Finally, Joe started fulfilling his responsibilities INSIDE his house, such as taking his dirty dishes up to the sink, if not ALSO washing them.

With age comes wisdom.

Looks like Phil is going to help make Holly more manageable (as a teen). He seems able to talk to her in away that Val can’t. Val and Holly are too much alike; their interactions can be abrasive. I like this family already.

Last year at one of our youth football practices, the coach, his 8-year-old son and 6-year-old daughter (along with the rest of the team) lined up and pulled out a “Will you marry US?” sign to one of the cheer coaches.She said YES.

One big advantage to marrying a man who has lived on his own is that he recognizes housework when he sees it.