“Will Chamberlain, a conservative lawyer who worked on Ron DeSantis’s presidential campaign, posted on X that Harris ‘shouldn’t be President’ because she doesn’t have biological children; ‘becoming a step-parent to older teenagers doesn’t count,’ he said." —New York Times, 07/23/2024
1. Integrating into a structure with a history that began way before you ever came on the scene.
2. Finding the balance between respecting time-honored traditions, and having the courage to create new ones.
3. Winning over the members of the house whose objections can be loud, and sometimes downright offensive.
4. Attending a lot of sporting events.
5. Pretending to like them all.
6. Adapting to your new digs, which still contain a lot of memorabilia from former occupants, such as questionable Christmas decorations, and family portraits featuring the “First Lady.”
7. Building trust, especially with those who like to remind you on a regular basis that they didn’t have a say in your selection process.
8. Being down with the kids, but not so down that it becomes embarrassing.
9. Accepting that you’re not necessarily going to be popular, at least not all the time, especially not during midterms.
10. Helping to redefine what constitutes a family.
11. Managing domestic affairs.
12. Ignoring negative stereotypes perpetuated by Disney that cast you as an evil, conniving narcissistic witch with a penchant for thinly plucked eyebrows.
Skills you need as president: 1–11
Skills you need as a stepmom: 1–12