Hosting family events is no small thing. Letting people into your intimate space who you have a close and (possibly) troubled history with, resulting from problematic relationship dynamics, presents all sorts of problems. It's basically like opening a Pandora's box of sorts of complex family trauma. Usually, the problematic ones will be rogue cousins or uncles who you just don't see eye to eye with, but occasionally, it will be your own problematic parents. This woman found herself at a breakin…

This stepmother has been really struggling to develop a closer relationship with her stepdaughter At 18, you are an “adult” in every sense of the word. Sure, your frontal lobe hasn't fully developed, and you're going to make a whole lot of bad choices over the next seven or so years, but the difference between 17 and 18 is that you're going to be solely responsible—and accountable—for those decisions. That means the way you engage your peersonal relationships. If you're fortunate and privileged…

Entitlement runs deep.

These legal fights have gotten unbelievably petty. It turns out that you can hire a lawyer to fight for you to get back almost any belonging from your ex, including tiny things like shower curtains or door knobs. Who knew?! Going through a divorce is never ideal, and having to split up your belongings after years of sharing everything can be a lengthy process. The lawyers who replied to u/ChronicWatcher1456's question have some stories to tell… A surprising amount of them have found themselves…

Parents can get oddly competitive about their kids, and they have some backhanded compliments to dole out to parents they're intimidated by. They say it's not productive to compare your kid to others, but it's hard not to. If all the other babies are walking but your kid is still crawling, you might worry that they're behind. Other babies start talking very early on, while others don't speak in full sentences until they're two or three years old. It's understandable why parents would be concern…

My major revelation from this thread is the fact that a “boot dryer” exists. I mean, it makes complete sense, but for some reason, I have never conceptualized its existence—and this is coming from a guy who wears boots and occasionally has wet boots… I could have used one of these years ago. But my ignorance regarding boot dryers is not the issue at hand here; rather, it's this family's disagreement regarding the priority of usage of theirs. This husband stood his ground when his wife began ins…

Never look a gift horse in the mouth—and never gift a look mouth in the horse. That doesn't make sense you say? Well, I feel like it makes about as much sense as the original. Horses and mouthes aside, it's never a good idea to make an issue about something someone is giving you for free. For one thing, it's free and there's nothing better than free stuff. Even if someone gives you a nest of angry bees at least you can make honey. If you're allergic to bees, at least you've gained the knowledge…

For siblings that become the forgotten member of the family, it's tough to watch the golden child slide through life without worries or cares. Obviously, family drama is pretty inescapable, and can be taxing both emotionally and financially. One Redditor, u/TWoldCat , was the outcast of the family and was alienated from her family since a young age by her toxic mother and golden girl sister. However, after she had started a new life without them, she was dragged back into the drama. TWold was f…

Families always have a complicated dynamic. Because nobody has a perfect family, most people can relate to having a family group chat go completely awry, even when the best efforts and intentions are made. One woman knows better than anyone that a family chat can go south in an instant. Recently a girl named Mikayla was attempting to get the family reunited to celebrate the birthday of their grandma all together. To do so, she reached out to a large group of family members – aunts, cousins, sib…

When your adoption plays out like a Team Rocket attempt to capture Ash's Pikachu — you might need to go home and rethink your life. Now, I'm not knocking those who would seek to adopt children; largely, these people are doing one of the greatest goods you could imagine — however, privately approaching, no — stalking — a desperate young woman on Facebook and convincing her that her only option is to give her unborn baby to you is nefarious , in a mustache-twirling, cat-stroking, monocle-adjustin…