SD10 did an actual CHORE!

No, really! She did!
DH told her to set the table for dinner Saturday evening. He'd already set plates out, but she had to get silverware out, and napkins, and all that. DH coached her through it..."Okay, the napkin goes on the left, I think, and the fork on top of it. Knife and spoon on the right side. [yells into living room where I am] HONEY!!! Fork on the right with the napkin, other stuff on the left, correct???...see, SD! We got it right! Don't worry, I didn't know that either, 'til j-dog taught me...."
Anyway, she helped out with something around here, when told to. With no complaining, no refusal, just....did her chore.
Hopefully DH is starting to realize that chores will not kill her, and that life will go much more smoothly if we expect her to help out around here a little bit. As you may recall, she folded and put away her own laundry on Monday, too.
Exciting stuff! Whoooo-hoooo!!!

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Nope, non-custodial here! BM,

Nope, non-custodial here!
BM, not so much on the PAS game, actually. No partner in sight for BM--she seems contented being single and raising SD10, for now at least. I see her at various events, I handle pick-ups sometimes, at her house or at her work (she works for her Dad, so takes SD to work with her in the summer when SD wasn't enrolled in camp.) She's always decent with me. We're not friends, but she's not hostile, either. It's pretty clear she likes me WAY better than she liked the woman who did break up her marriage!
She's very supportive of visitation, very flexible with schedule changes (she almost never needs to shuffle things, DH and I do, a LOT!)
SD10 totally has adult spousal status at BM's house. It's pretty clear she rules the roost there. DH will tell her "We're going to...." and she'll think about it for a moment, then come back with this serious "No...I don't think I'd like that." DH will flash me this look, I can see the gears going in his head..."How strongly does j-dog feel about this? Can I get away with giving in to SD? Noooo....j-dog isn't looking like that's gonna fly this time, either. Bummer." and then he tells SD that's what we're doing, period.
He's totally a guilty Disney-Dad, don't get me wrong! TONS of stuff to work on/work through. But he IS working on it, things ARE getting better. And he's seeing that she's NOT going to hate him forever if he asks her to do stuff.

It's it pathetic that these

It's it pathetic that these little things light up our day.

My kids DS13, DD11 and SD12 were told saturday that there would be no tv, computer or video games because we had to get some work done around the house.

My washer died on my last week and we haven't quite go around to replacing it so the laundry was piled up. I took all of it to the laundramat and left a list of things I wanted done. I told DH before I left what I had done and that he would need to help motivate them and check up on them while I was gone.

Lo and behold - every last item on the list was done! It was wonderful. So I let them live another day

WOW.....is that why its

WOW.....is that why its snowing in Phoenix? LOL!!!!!!!!

Wow, that's great! My FDH is

Wow, that's great! My FDH is trying to teach his son to throw his trash away (Capri Sun containers left lying anywhere he finishes them) and not to leave his toys laying around when BM gets there. Yesterday, when BM texted to say she was on the way, FDH made FSS8 pick up all his toys and put them away, and throw his trash away. I almost needed a rope to pull my jaw off the floor.

We can do it people! Steparents of the world, unite! Take back your metaphorical (and sometimes physical) balls! Stand your ground! Kids CAN learn to do chores! This isn't the Spanish Inquisition....but it can be!!