• Washedupcynic@lemmy.ca
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    5 hours ago

    If this is true, holy shit. I once dated a woman 16 years older than I was, I was 26. She had 4 kids ranging from 8, 17, 19, 20. I never attempted to parent the older 3 kids, and they never asked me my age; it was an unspoken agreement. I did parent the 8 year old. The older kids asked for my help a handful of times over the 7 years I was a part of their family, and I happily helped them and stepped up when I could. They were shocked I helped. I was like look, I’m not your parent, I’m not gonna tell you how to live your life, but you are still family and I got your back.

    In retrospect, it was a pretty unhealthy relationship, but I was dumb in many ways in my 20s.

    • BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today
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      7 minutes ago

      Not dumb at all, it was a core life experience, not much different than many people go through. It’s fairly common with the gender roles reversed.

    • captainlezbian@lemmy.world
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      54 minutes ago

      Yeah when I was being the young hot piece of ass for a woman with a kid my age I knew where I stood: proof mom is a cougar

    • ramble81@lemmy.zip
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      2 hours ago

      I read “She was 26” and kept trying to figure out that math because I didn’t like the answer I was coming up with. Turns out it’s just my reading comprehension that wasn’t working out.

      • Dozzi92@lemmy.world
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        3 hours ago

        Not OC but it’s always retrospective. I am 38 and look back at my 20s and reflect on mistakes. Caring too much about how I was perceived, not caring enough about how I perceived myself. Not being honest with myself. Fortunately years and increased responsibility put into perspective the important versus the unimportant. I focus in things that make me happy, make my family happy. I focus less on doing things just because other people are doing them. I did a lot of stuff I didn’t want to do in my 20s because of where I was at in life.

        And hey, not everyone’s dumb in their 20s. And if you’re in your 20s, there’s no point in reflecting on it. You are where you are, you do what you do, your life will end up wherever it ends up.