Family is… family—something that sort of just happens. Springing naturally through strong connections by blood, intentions, reciprocal care, or shared experiences. (Insert any of a number of quotes from Don Toretto about not turning your back on family and/or something about family being the most important thing here.) It's not something you can just force into existence, hoping that by sheer willpower, you'll convince the other members of the family you're trying to build that they should also…

Any potential step-parent knows that it can be difficult to gain the approval of your partner's kids. This is especially true if those kids are in the midst of their teenage years. This Redditor may need to learn the important lesson of not taking this treatment too personally, as her boyfriend's daughter probably would not be satisfied with anyone for her dad. The original poster (OP), of course, was trying to get her approval when she got the 13-year-old a necklace, a gift the teenager almost…

Siblings… Really, what is there that isn't to be said? They can be your best friends, your fiercest competitors, or just the most awful people you've ever had the displeasure of being acquainted with. This 25-year-old woman moved in with her 23-year-old sister, giving up her perfectly good apartment just to move in with her sister when her sister relocated to the city for work. Difficulties began to rise, and trouble brewed when her sister began performing “harmless” pranks. They started small…

As a part of our professional lives, we're almost obligated to be amiable to our coworkers, clients, and associates, even if we can stand them… with every fiber of our being. The reality of life is you're not going to get along and vibe with everyone, nor should you, without distilling your personality and trying to people-please so as not to offend anyone ever. While getting along with coworkers and working well with them is an obligation… where does that obligation end? Once you're out of the…

Just because he makes a 6-figure salary, doesn't mean your FRIENDS get a free dinner...

Because of his repeated jokes about her being a “gold digger” she declined you might hope that people would be a little more mature.

There's not much a deadbeat dad can do that'll make his children think less of him–except crawling out of the woodwork years after announcing he had a secret family only to ask them to share their college fund with his love child.

Weddings have a way of bringing out the strain in families, and the pressure of executing a single greatest day of the bride and groom's life really ups the ante. Meanwhile, you're trying to keep all your unpredictable extended family in line and making sure everything goes according to plan, leaving plenty of opportunity for something to go wrong. Of course, it can also bring out festering underlying dynamics between siblings too… This 16-year-old was meant to be a bridesmaid at her older sist…

When this mother's 28-year-old daughter, Jessica, moved back in with them after a breakup, she asked her mother to partake in a “rewatch” of the popular 00's TV show “Gilmore Girls” with her. The mother didn't know much about the show outside of the fact that she was not a fan regarding the titular characters as being “very entitled” and remarking that the show relies on the viewer finding their “yelling matches” to be “endearing.” Keep reading to see her account of events as she shared with th…

"Even if he really is correct about it being a minute amount of money, that means that it shouldn't be any problem for *them* to pay it."

Family dynamics are always tough, even in the best of circumstances… Parenting teenagers is difficult enough when they're your own flesh and blood or they're otherwise your sole charge and are obligated to follow your direction. It gets infinitely more difficult when you have another adult who is influential in your life—especially one of their parents who is undermining you and just generally poisoning the well and encouraging them to be toxic towards you at every possible chance. You'd think…

Entitlement runs deep.

When we're young, we assume that our parents and other adults in authority are infallible, generally taking them at their word and assuming that all adults conduct themselves in mature, non-biased, morally upright, and ethical ways. You come to find, as you age, that even the paragons of your youth are, in fact, fallible, imperfect people. This realization will often first cause you to feel resentment before you eventually come to accept as you age further that they were nothing more than peopl…

Supporting family in times of need is something you do out of love and a sense of familial obligation to that person—but even that has its limits. Although the person being supported might be in a hard place, it's still on them not to make their host too hard done by; you can't just go around making demands and being wildly entitled about everything in someone else's home. As someone who has uniquely been in this situation and forced to stay with family in a similar situation after a flooded ho…

This sounds harsh, but it's one of those lessons where the sooner you learn it in life, the better off you'll be. Success takes effort—and sustained effort at that. At a certain point, a certain amount of sustained effort is going to be an essential factor and determinant of whether you have an income that can support your continued existence and survival. That's not to say that it's the only thing that matters, but for most of us, it's an important starting point. Thus, this lesson holds value…

How do divorced couples who are co-parenting handle disagreements?