It's an exciting and sometimes stressful process naming your child because everyone feels free to give unwanted advice and 'guidance'. But what would you do if, after several months of thought and debate, you finally decided on a name for your son, only to have your sister-in-law outsmart you and give her son the name you had planned for him? The story below is an account of a frustrated sister-in-law. The original poster (OP) had just given birth to her first child. For their little angel, the…

Welcome back internet enthusiasts. It’s never a comfortable feeling when your partner has that one ‘friend’ that feels a bit bigger than friendship. It can be disheartening and overwhelming to wonder about your partner’s loyalty to you. It’s not healthy for any relationship, and often ends in a breakup. No one can live in the shadow of doubt, fear, and insecurity. It plays games with your psyche, and you either become a shell of yourself, or you leave them. This brings us to the Reddit thread.…

Welcome back people of the internet. Summer: the time for planning trips , vacations, and relaxation. Having a family cabin is an incredible gift; you have a free and beautiful place to get away from it all. Desolate in the woods, nature all around you, no neighbors, just quiet stillness. It’s the perfect place to unwind, get alone time, have a romantic vacation, or spend quality time with family. That is until your husband decides to invite his mother. This brings us to the Reddit thread. This…

As much as parents love to say they don't have a favorite child, everyone knows that is completely untrue. The parents know it, the kids know it, and even the cat knows it. They can try the hide it, and if they do it well, the favoritism can go undetected for a long time, but at some point, the small actions towards a specific kid pile up and the truth comes out. For example, I have two sisters, and all three of us know that my parents love my younger sister the most. They spoiled her more grow…

Family dynamics are complex and multifaceted. The complexity of familial ties dramatically changes when money is involved. The story below is an account of a frustrated son. The original poster (OP) lays out his reasons for severing ties with his parents in a candid post. To put things in perspective, OP lost his grandparents when he was just a toddler. The parents were ordered to safeguard the money until their children turned 18 years old, at which time they were each predicted to inherit a s…

Welcome back ladies and gentlemen of the internet. It’s becoming increasingly common to perform paternity tests . There’s been a recent craze because of some leaked cases of men parenting children who aren’t theirs. I can understand this shock , it’s deeply traumatic on so many levels. Although it can cause a lot of strife for the relationship, men sometimes insist on knowing the truth. After insisting, it’s no wonder it creates problems in the relationship forever, and even sometimes divorce.…

Welcome back ladies and gentlemen of the internet. Relationships aren’t easy. Whether it’s between parents, siblings, friends, or partners, there’s a lot of work that needs to go into it to be successful. If one person isn’t putting in effort, the relationship is doomed. But it’s not always easy to let go of your ego and decide you want to change. In this particular Reddit thread, the original poster (OP) is a woman who just had a baby. Some women are fine after, and some women have waves of ho…

Welcome back internet enthusiasts. When you marry, you don’t just marry the person, but in a way you marry their family. You’re accepted as one of them, and there’s usually an obligation to have a relationship with different members. You’re expected to be at family functions, holidays, and the like. If you don’t get along with a member, well it will be strikingly obvious, and could create a lot of turmoil. Rivalries, favoritism, choosing sides, it can get more than tricky to navigate. This brin…

'She claimed she was doing me a favor'

Welcome back ladies and gentlemen of the internet. The topic of paternity tests is gaining more and more popularity all the time. 50 years ago, I don’t think it even occurred to men to get a paternity test. It means a lot for the state of our culture; cheating at one time in history was almost a given, and you stay in your marriage for the sake of survival. Now, cheating is an all encompassing act that leaves someone feeling so betrayed and unfulfilled. We transpose our identity onto our partne…

Welcome back ladies and gentlemen of the internet. It’s too common of a story when a woman is deeply unimpressed with her husband’s behavior. There’s the phrase deadbeat dad for a reason . You don’t hear the same descriptions of women and moms, not that they can’t be uninvolved, but it’s not the stereotype. Men have the standard that it’s impressive when they at least show up emotionally or mentally. Even though this is the case, it’s not every father, and nowadays men are opening up and talkin…

Fathers are parents too

Welcome back internet enthusiasts. It’s almost too common to disagree with your in-laws about something, and more often than not it’s between a wife and a mother-in-law. Now, I don’t want to point fingers at the man and say that perhaps he’s a spoiled mama’s boy, and that’s why this relationship dynamic occurs far too often, but it’s certainly possible. Anyway, there can be a slew of reasons why these two women can’t get along . Maybe there are expectations for caretaking, grandparenting, or fi…

Welcome back ladies and gentlemen of the internet. They say you can choose your friends, but you can’t choose your family. You can even choose your partners, but you can’t choose your family member’s partners either. It’s more than disappointing to have a sibling who married someone you don’t see eye to eye with. Family dinners, events, and reunions somehow always have to have that one uncle, that one in-law who just causes copious amounts of drama to everyone. The one always trying to start a…

You can always rely on your family, both in good and terrible times. That being said, you should never take your loved ones for granted because they can vanish at any moment. The story below is an account of a confused father. As a single father, the original poster (OP) raises his adolescent son. Since they were young children, the youngster and his uncle—OP's brother—had a strong relationship. Because of their many common interests and experiences, the young boy and his uncle grew increasingl…

Welcome back internet enthusiasts. We live in a world with so much importance put on material possessions, that sometimes we forget and forgo the human in us. We would rather ruin relationships we have than let go of that adored shirt that cost us so much. It’s a bit unhealthy, if you ask me, but it’s the way of the world, and that’s a fact. Material items and money work hand in hand to disallow us to separate from these meaningless things, to focus on interpersonal relationships. Inheritance i…