“My sister is a horrible step mother”

She has a two year old son and three step children. She despises the step kids. When her child was born she wanted their father to take a month’s “break” from the other children to bond with theirs. He told her he couldn’t take a break from being a parent and would take care of all his kids.

She throws a tantrum any time he does anything with his other children or if they come over. She calls the seven year old fat, and has banned her from having snacks. Even though the two year old can have them. She has gotten so bad that she even makes up lies on them to try to win people over to “her side”. Like telling people the teenager is inappropriate with the younger children. Nobody but her has ever witnessed it.

I have tried to reason with her. She just gets mad at me and accuses me of being judgmental and keeps repeating that her son shouldn’t have to do without a father because his ex drops those “brats” on them constantly. It’s gotten to the point to where I am missing out on my nephews’ life because I can’t be around that.

“My mom is holding me back”

I am a mother to an infant and had her as a single woman. I moved back to my mom’s, mainly to help her as well. My mom is disabled and needed some help, including financially. I had given up on ever dating another man, as it’s not easy for me to meet others considering how busy I am.

However, that has changed and I have met someone. I knew him from my last job as he worked for a company that mine dealt with. Nothing ever happened during that time, we had never even met in person. He has recently reconnected with me and we hit it off! He is literally the man of my dreams. My mom has always told me that she doesn’t want to hold me back from happiness yet gets upset when I go on a date with this man. Continue reading

“I can’t cope with my parent’s death”

Dear Blurb ,
I’m a 20 year old girl from Cape Town, South Africa and I found my mom dead on the bathroom floor when I was 13. When I was 18 I walked into my dad’s room as he took his last breath.

I’m going through some weird emotions and I don’t really have money to talk to someone. When my dad passed, the flat we’ve been renting was put in my name so all the responsibility was given to me overnight.

I’m not really sure how to deal with it all, please send me your advice and tips to help with coping.

“My mother is ready to press charges against my abusive father”

So my mother, older sister, father, and I live in this house owned by my grandmother. My grandmother and her mother lived next door until my great-grandmother died in late 2015. My great-grandmother was a tyrant and caused all of us to feel like shit, so we figured once she died, my grandmother would be able to live the life that she couldn’t before because of her and would become a lot nicer.

Well, that didn’t happen as planned. She is just as obsessive and mean as she was before. On top of her constant verbal abuse, my father and sister are emotionally abusive to my mother and me as well. My father will yell and curse at my mother for her weight and her job (whether she works her scheduled 40 hrs — which is too few for his taste — or if she works between that and 80 hours — which is too many — he is not satisfied), and he will be upset if the house isn’t kept up to his liking (even though he is the one that trashes it).

He will yell at me for not doing anything (if I don’t go out with friends or work), but will yell at me if I am doing too much (hanging out with friends or working) and is constantly upset with me being in school (since he has to drive me, because I am 19 and not allowed to have my license).

My sister feeds on any drama in the house and will do anything to stir anything up. We have never had a decent holiday at our house between her and my father. They both love to throw things, too — food, keys, television remotes, etc. You can never talk to any of them, my grandmother included, about anything because they will use it against you. Continue reading

“My mom and I constantly argue”

I can’t seem to stop fighting with my mom, and it’s tearing me up inside. We have big differences in ideology and faith and obviously age, but we’ve always been pretty close. She came to visit me during Thanksgiving, and I found myself becoming very easily annoyed with her (and other family) and snapping and fighting.

Since then, it’s been so hard to go very long without having a huge argument over politics, opinions, each other’s choices, etc. She makes me feel like if I question her logic (I have been in school in the science field, so it’s hard for me not bring up objections to logic), that I think she is stupid and I hate her. But I have explained it’s not personal, then she says incredibly mean and cruel and yes, illogical things to me. Continue reading

“My mom is having a hard time with me being away at college”

I am a freshman in college right now. My college is about an hour-and-a-half away from home. I had to work really hard to convince my parents to let me go to that college. I come home every other week. My mom really wants me to transfer to a college that is closer to home. I don’t really want to but, everyone keeps telling me that my mom is having a really hard time adjusting to me being out of the house. I really want to stay at the school that I am at but, I don’t know what to do.

“I like him, but he’s so attached to his mother”

I’m a single mom with 3 girls ages 2, 3, and 5. I’ve been single for about 2 years now and just recently met a great guy. He’s also a single parent with a little girl, age 9. He’s a pilot so he frequently travels.

His mother lives with him because while he’s gone, she takes care of his little girl. Which I think is sweet! He’s a good guy and seems very willing to be a part of my kids’ lives and he’s very understanding of my busy schedule. We’ve only been on 3 dates within the past month.

I’m basically new to dating after being in a very long (abusive) relationship and I need to take it slow and casual at first. But the only thing is, this guy is soooo attached to his mother. Which I think is nice BUT he asked me if it was okay to bring her along our last date. It was at the park to let our kiddos play so I said sure. But thought it was a little strange and I honestly wasn’t ready for all that. She ended up not coming and it sounds bad, but I was relieved. Continue reading

“I don’t know what a normal home is”

My mom and I survived 23 years with my dad who was an abusive alcoholic narcissist. He left us about six months ago but that wasn’t the end of our problems. My mother is clinically depressed, has been diagnosed with PTSD and is prone to emotional outbursts. Sometimes she takes out her anger on me.

I am in college, but quite late, because I lost three years due to that arrogant asshole who calls himself my dad. Now we’re doing okay financially and all, but my mom has been through a string of relationships — two with married men — and each has left her more broken and depressed than before. The relationships were not physical but usually through chatting only. I can vouch for that. Continue reading