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Haven’t we all done something like this in high school? Pretending to really like a band for someone to notice us, becoming a skater to belong in a group, dyeing our hair because our crush likes blondes…OK, I might have gone too personal there, but this is an example of the same type of behaviour. Instead of about a crush, it’s about a father-in-law’s approval. In the end, it’s all the same, a never-ending search for love. I'm feeling romantic today, lol.

Man spends 4 years pretending to have an obsession with a very niche hobby just to get his father-in-law's approval: 'For the first year, we sat in agonizing silence during every family gathering. I was desperate'

When your family thinks you're too young to demand your own bed The practical explanation might be simple: ‘They’re the youngest, they’re more flexible, they’ll manage’. Sometimes, when you are the youngest sibling, you’re forced to remain in a babyfied position. This is probably not on purpose; it’s just a way of functioning that got stuck when you were a baby.

24-year-old youngest sister refuses to go on family vacation due to sleeping arrangements: 'Since I am the youngest sibling, I have to put up with whatever option was the most inconvenient'

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Mother-in-law invites everyone early to try to give her daughter-in-law strife about being late, but DIL catches onto her plan and calls her out: ‘[I] stewed in my pettiness.'

Elna McHilderson

I love you, therefore I feed you Food can look different in different cultures, but it always means practically the same thing. Humans have gathered around food since forever and have also constructed countless rituals surrounding it. Feeding is one of our first contacts with the world around us when we’re babies and are fed by our mothers. Most of the time, food signifies love, community, connection, nurture, interdependence, etc.

52-year-old woman is constantly pushing her homecooked food onto 60-year-old sister and 80-year-old dad: 'We don't want her pickles!'

As we get older, our roles in relation to our parents often become reversed. In short, we become the parents, and they become the children. This doesn’t always happen, but when it does, it becomes a source of profound distress. In the case of the daughter who shared her experience with this, I think it’s more of a ‘the dad never grew up to begin with’ situation, but we’ll see.

'I’ll do it later': 22-year-old daughter starts treating 58-year-old farmer dad like a child after 22 years of him failing to do what he said he will

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Sometimes parents perceive one child as more competent, intelligent, or strong; as a result, the other children under the same roof are favoured and protected, while the other is expected to endure and handle everything as an adult would. In the story below, I think the brother who tells it was put in this position because he's the oldest and witnessed the family's hardest times.

38-year-old parents demand their least favourite child defend them and his spoiled siblings against the rest of the family: 'They have become such spoiled brats and my parents act surprised when people call it out'

College student buys PS5 instead of saving up to move out of parents' house, family accuses him of acting childish, then demands he shares the console: ‘I said no’

College student buys PS5 instead of saving up to move out of parents' house, family accuses him of acting childish, then demands he shares the console: ‘I said no’

Any form of inheritance symbolically means ‘you belong to this line’, and the father’s intent on forcing the son not to accept what his grandfather is giving to him, to me, reveals the father’s hidden interest in the son remaining his heir (remaining on his family line) and not his grandfather’s. The question is, why does this inheritance spark so much rivalry?

Entitled Dad Demands Son Not To Accept a House He Rightfully Inherited, It’s Key Importance to Both Parties Creating a Rift Between Them: ‘He Won’t Stop Bringing It Up'

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What stands out in this story is that the father seems to be sending two conflicting messages: one that he can’t be bothered to make the effort to see his daughter on her graduation day, and the other that he wants to be a part of the milestone and the celebration. I genuinely wonder if his wrath is not deep down directed at his own contradictions.

24-year-old daughter refuses to answer her father’s calls during her graduation ceremony after he decided not to go because it was “too far away”, arrives home to find a series of angry texts: ‘This showed him how little I cared about it’

When something goes missing, we tend to think of anyone who’s not family as an intruder. For instance, the other day I was crashing at a friend's house, and she accused me of unplugging the refrigerator and causing everything to defrost. I said I didn’t remember doing that, but I was ready to take care of it financially .

Mother accuses daugther's lifelong best friend of theft after money goes missing: 'I acted normal when my friend left today, but inside I'm hurt, disappointed, and honestly a little resentful'

Conflicts about objects are rarely about objects, and this one is no exception. Moving into a house at the back of your parents’ house is often an anteroom to real independence, and many of us go through that stage before moving far, far away from our loved ones. The situation typically evokes conflicting feelings about privacy and separation.

Angry parents refuse to let their older son take the furniture from his old house and try to force him to leave it to his younger sister: ‘They continued to call me names and say I was being petty’

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First-time homeowner refuses to let her sister's family of 6 move in, discovers they assigned themselves bedrooms in the house she bought after years of saving without asking her

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Family with unhinged landlord turn the tables after finally moving out, enjoy the rambling voicemails he still leaves them: 'The voicemails... were the highlight of my day there for a while.'

Elna McHilderson

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Horse Owner Begs Mom Not to Let Students Ride Her New Horse Daisy, Gets Called Entitled: ‘Hard to feel sorry for a child who was bought 2 horses’

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Grad party hostess confronts plus-one guest who didn't introduce herself, guest leaves the party to sit in the car alone: "I didn't know whose house it was."

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Teacher Fails Middle School Student for Being 'Really Poor': 'I thought I did actually pretty good... But then I get my grade afterwards. I failed.'