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…

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…

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…

Overbearing parents can make school a miserable existence for teachers and students alike. Thankfully for these overworked kids, their helicopter parents have met their match with their history teacher. This teacher was pressured by the parents to assign more extra credit so their kids could have a greater chance at getting A+ final grades. After receiving enough pressure from the board and the administration, the teacher acquiesced but devised a plan to maliciously comply. She decided to give…

Sometimes, the sweetest revenge is accidental. Sure, perhaps you've been fantasizing about the different ways in which you can get even with your unapologetically noisy next-door neighbor, but the conflict-avoidant part of you has kept you from acting upon those fantasies. All you can do in these situations is to hope for karma to rear its ugly head, and in this case, it didn't even have to. This tenant tried numerous times to keep both his adjacent and upstairs neighbors quiet. These were a gr…

It turns out that the best way to get back at one's nuisance of a neighbor is to get the HOA involved. Of course, homeowner's associations are typically the enemies when we cover them here at FAIL Blog, but every so often, we come across a story where people manage to use HOAs for good. In this case , the righteousness here was getting rid of a frustrating neighbor who refused to leave this Redditor alone. It got so bad that the Redditor decided to document every HOA violation he witnessed. Nat…

Sitting next to a screaming child is the worst nightmare for most airplane passengers. Well, it's between that and a chatty adult who refuses to leave you alone over the course of a long flight. Most parents try their best to relax their disruptive kids, but there is only so much they can do. In this scenario , however, we have a couple who refused to do anything at all. In fact, they sat behind their screaming children and made it seem like the passenger seated next to the little miscreants wa…

It's surprising and disappointing sometimes the disrespect and disregard people have for their spouses when relationships are supposed to be built on respect and support. We're talking about someone who is supposed to be your other half, so it makes sense that responsibilities be split and handled as if that were the case—where capable and able. We're all only human, and our lives and their requirements are changing all the time, so we're not going to get it right all the time, but that's where…

It's commonly believed that it's improper to mix business and pleasure. However, what would you say if, after all of your effort, your sibling refused to compensate you for your labor and time? The story below is an account of a frustrated brother. For a living, the original poster (OP) remodels houses. So when his brother asked whether he would be willing to refurbish his house, he immediately said yes. OP even gave his brother a discount in exchange for his devotion and good name. However, th…

Your first focus should always be your family. Having said that, how would you respond if you started to suspect that your family is taking advantage of your goodwill and generosity? The story below is an account of a frustrated daughter. The original poster (OP) moved to the US in order to advance her career. Since leaving her home country, she has been sending money to her parents as a token of appreciation for all of their support throughout the years. Though initially everything was well, t…

We all like to think of our lives as being cut into neat little shapes with clearly defined outlines and borders. The reality of that couldn't be any further from the truth, and those who insist the most fervently that there is nothing amiss in their life are either hiding something or in complete denial. So, when you read something along the lines of “mother rejects their child,” you probably make a judgment call before even knowing the rest of the context, coming in guns blazing and ready to…

Naming kids is a minefield that's littered with many potential pitfalls. Upholding family traditions comes into contact with conflicting expectations from either side of the family, meeting jarringly with modern naming trends while trying to make sure that it also ends up being something unique while also avoiding adverse personal and pop culture associations. Yeah, you're never gonna get it exactly right; just when you think you're getting close to settling on a name, you come to learn that it…

Parenting is a two-person job. While there are excellent single parents out there, caring for a newborn often requires the waking attention of two fully attentive adults, which is why having children can make or break a relationship. When new parents reach a boiling point, things can go south very quickly.

Something is really bugging this couple, and it's the name of their daughter. Specifically, the fact that she was named after a genus of cicada without the wife's knowledge. See, the husband is an entomologist (insect scientist) and made a suggestion for their daughter's name when the pair had run into complications with the previous name they were interested in. The problem is that when the husband made the name suggestion, he did so while withholding the fact that the name was actually a genu…

It's unfortunate that a meme can become so ubiquitous that it can almost break up a marriage. However, that's the power of the internet and pop culture, and if you have been anywhere close to the internet over the last five years, you have seen many a think-piece and many a joke about the name Karen. You likely have seen a ton of posts about Karen on this site alone (you're welcome). Well, apparently, this dude's wife did not get the picture and still insisted that their soon-to-be-born daughte…

All this teenager wanted for her high school graduation was a family trip to Disneyland, but her older sister had other plans for her. Over the past several years, this Redditor found herself having to babysit her sister's kids every time she visited. The family trip to Disneyland was supposed to be her time with her parents doing one final semi-childish activity before going off to college in the fall. Well, her sister decided to crash her event with the kids. It immediately became clear that…